Toy Box
by VeryBerry96
Summary: Sei is dying. Toue needs someone to help keep him alive until his plan is completed. Molly is different. She doesn't agree with Toue's principles and resents his character. But when these two meet, something changes in both of them. A change neither of them could have seen coming.
1. Chapter 1 - Different

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's my new DMMD story! I hope you enjoy it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own DMMD, but I do own my OCs Molly, Alicia and Hiroshi Tsubomi.**

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**Chapter 1 - Different**

"_Sir, I'm afraid it's not good news. He's not in very good shape. I doubt he'll last much longer if we do nothing."_

_Tatsuo Toue sighed heavily and ran his hand down his face. "What would you recommend, doctor?"_

_The doctor looked towards the frail young man sitting on the chair at the other end of the room for a moment before looking back towards Toue. "Honestly sir, there isn't anything we can do for him now medically."_

_Toue looked directly into the doctor's eyes. He stayed perfectly calm, but the way he was looking at him made the doctor feel very nervous indeed._

"_He needs to stay alive doctor. He needs to stay alive for at least the next three weeks."_

_The doctor swallowed heavily and nodded, not even daring to ask why Toue had put a time limit on how long this young man had to stay alive for._

"_I'll do my best sir, but honestly one of the few things that may help might just be if he had some company his own age. From the looks of things, it doesn't seem like he gets much in the way of interaction with other people," the doctor said nervously, very much afraid of angering one of the most powerful men in Japan._

_Toue looked over at Sei, the young man who was so very important to his plan, and nodded slowly. "Yes…I agree with you doctor. Excellent idea…"_

* * *

I trudged through the streets of Platinum Jail, kicking a small stone as I went. For all that this place was meant to be some sort of entertainment utopia, I seemed to get bored in here really easily. My parents didn't get it; they absolutely loved it here. But I couldn't help it. I was bored of the same stuff every day stuck inside these walls, trapped from the outside world.

My name is Molly Tsubomi. I'm 18 years old. And I live in Platinum Jail in Japan on the island of Midorijima.

My mother, Alicia, is American and my father, Hiroshi, is Japanese. We moved to Platinum Jail from Hokkaido not long after Platinum Jail was built. Our family was wealthy enough to afford to live here, but we're no way near a rich as the majority of the residents so some of them act as if we don't belong here. We live on the outskirts of the complex, right next to wall separating Platinum Jail from the rest of Midorijima. We lived in the Midnight Blue Coast district of Platinum Jail, although from what I'd heard of the other areas I would much rather live in Aqua Forest or Flame Willow. There are no plants here and almost everything is made of glass.

I was approaching our house with two heavy shopping bags in my hands. My parents had sent me out on a grocery run. I had my hands full so I had to kick on the door to get someone to open it for me. The door opened and my dad's face appeared.

"Molly! There was no need to make all that racket," he sighed. "Didn't you take your key with you?"

I held up the bags of food. "I did but I kinda have my hands full with your dinner."

My dad rolled his eyes. "It's your dinner too rascal," he teased, ruffling my hair.

I walked into the house, kicked my shoes off, and dumped the bags on the kitchen counter, quickly fixing my short brown hair back into its two regular bunches and making sure my fringe was straight.

"Hi sweetie," my mother called from the living room.

"Hey mom," I called back, walking through to the living room and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," my mom replied. "Just watching TV."

"Anything decent on?" I asked, already knowing the answer would be no. Platinum Jail didn't show anything on TV other than the news, occasional music videos and incredibly cheesy soap operas which my mom loved but I couldn't stand.

"Nothing you would like," mom answered, confirming my suspicions.

"Molly, do me a favour and put the shopping away?" dad asked as he walked through to sit next to my mom.

I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes. "So I go shopping _and _I have to put it away? Am I just slave labour to you two?"

"Molly, stop being so overdramatic," dad sighed.

I grinned and stuck my tongue out at him. "You know you love me."

My dad gave me a look but he grinned back. "Of course I do, rascal."

I went back through to the kitchen and started to put the groceries away. I had only been at it for a few minutes when I heard my mom squeal.

"Hiroshi, it's Toue-sama!"

I sighed heavily again and shook my head. My parents were just like every other resident of Platinum Jail: convinced that Tatsuo Toue was the greatest man alive and that everyone should hang on his every word. I wasn't convinced. I hated how he always went on about how the world is better without any pain or suffering. Of course I agreed that those things were bad, but I'd always felt like without the bad, humanity can't appreciate the good in the world.

"Molly, come through and watch this!" my mom called.

"No thanks, I'm okay," I called back, not having any intention of letting Toue poison my mind with his drivel.

My parents normally protested more if I refused to watch one of Toue's broadcasts but this time they didn't say anything more which must have meant they were completely engrossed in whatever he was saying. So finishing up putting the shopping away I headed upstairs to my room.

I sat down on my bed and opened the window next to it, zipping up my usual purple hoodie a little higher to protect myself from the wind now coming into my room. I pulled my legs up to my chest and stared out the window, up past the gigantic wall separating me from the Old Resident District. Since me and my parents had moved from Hokkaido straight to Platinum Jail the only time I'd seen the rest of the island was in the taxi ride from the airport to get here. It hadn't looked anywhere near as fancy as Platinum Jail was, but to be honest I think I'd prefer it to here. It looked more lively and fun, and like there were lots of different things to do. However even going there for a visit was impossible. Once you entered Platinum Jail it was almost impossible to leave, unless for whatever reason you needed to go to the hospital since there wasn't one here. Most people didn't want to leave anyway so they were fine with it. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only person in the entirety of Platinum Jail who would be quite happy to leave.

But sadly, since nobody else agreed with me I had to keep quiet. I was used to that by now, but it was still annoying having to keep my opinions to myself. I stared up at the artificial sky full of artificial stars and couldn't help but feel lonely.

* * *

"_Toue-sama, I think we may have found someone."_

_Toue came over to stand behind the man who had been typing away at his computer. On the screen was a picture of a young woman, probably 18 or 19 years old. She didn't look like she was completely of Japanese ethnicity. She had short dark brown hair pulled up into two bunches and dark green eyes. Toue's eyes skimmed over her information._

"_Molly Tsubomi," he murmured. "What's different about her?"_

"_Well sir, whenever you are broadcast on television, all citizens of Platinum Jail immediately focus on you. However Miss Tsubomi seems to be an exception to that. She doesn't seem to respect you like the other citizens do," the man explained._

"_Hmm…" Toue mused. "Well, normally this would be a problem, but in this situation it may be able to help us."_

"…_Sir?" the man asked, confused by what Toue meant._

_Toue clapped the man on the shoulder. "How quickly can you organise a broadcast to only be shown in her household?"_

_The man thought for a moment. "We should be able to set that up in around half an hour."_

"_Perfect," Toue said with a sly grin._

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**AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Broadcast

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Took a while but here's the second chapter! Hope you guys enjoy!**

**This chapter is dedicated to SmileRen and KittyNinja95. **

**Thank you to the guest who reviewed the last chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: DMMD is owned by Nitro+chiral. I own my OCs Molly, Alicia and Hiroshi Tsubomi.**

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**Chapter 2 - Broadcast**

Today was one of those days when I felt almost felt like clawing my eyes out just for something to do. I was debating if I should just walk into town so I could go look at the Allmates or something, but even that didn't seem that much fun today. I didn't know what was wrong with me: I just didn't feel like doing anything, but at the same time I was bored out of my mind.

It was already the middle of the afternoon so I figured I should get off my butt and actually do something or I would have wasted the whole day. I'd just been sitting at my desk doing literally nothing. I had intended to write for a bit; I was pretty good at writing little stories and I enjoyed it too, but I had no inspiration whatsoever so I had just been sitting in my chair spinning around and staring at the ceiling, occasionally scribbling down the odd rather crappy idea that popped into my head. So, filled with determination out of nowhere that I should actually do something today I headed down the stairs to make myself a late lunch, hoping that maybe doing something sort-of productive would stir some inspiration to not just stay inside all day doing nothing.

Mom and dad were in the living room watching something on TV so I just went straight into the kitchen and started making myself some lunch. Given the fact that mom was originally from America we tended to eat a lot of Western food as well as traditional Japanese stuff. Platinum Jail was quite good for that I'll admit; they had a lot of variety in terms of the food you could eat. I decided I felt like eating a sandwich today so I got some bread, butter, cheese and ham and set about putting my lunch together.

"What're you doing in there Molly?" dad called through from the living room.

"I'm just making a sandwich," I called back. "You guys want anything."

"No thanks, we're good," dad replied. "Just make sure you tidy up, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes dad, don't worry."

I made up my sandwich in silence and was about to take it up to my room when I heard my mom squeak from the living room.

"Molly! Get in here!" she cried.

I sighed heavily, not moving from my position half way up the stairs. "Mom, I'm going to tidy up the kitchen _after _I've eaten my lunch, promise."

"No, it's not that," mom called back. "It's a mandatory broadcast. Get in here now!"

I groaned under my breath as I trudged back down the stairs and into the living room. Mandatory broadcasts meant that every citizen of Platinum Jail had to watch. Even if you weren't in your house you couldn't get away from it as huge screens would show it in the larger public areas, and if you were somewhere else then it would pop up on your Coil. They usually just consisted of Toue blabbing on about different events or about how the Old Residents District was far more decrepit than Platinum Jail and we should pity the people who lived there. Although I was forced to watch them I never really paid attention and tended just to let my mind wander, quickly escaping from the room as soon it was over so nobody asked me about it and realised I hadn't been paying attention.

When I walked into the living room mom and dad were leaning forward towards the TV as if it was about to spit candy at them or something. I plopped myself down on the couch next to mom and began to eat my sandwich. As an experiment I purposely dropped some crumbs on the floor. Normally mom would get annoyed if I did that and then insist that I vacuum the whole room just in case, but as I suspected she didn't even notice. That's how badly she wanted to hear whatever Toue had to say. It was actually pretty embarrassing how obsessed everyone else who lived in Platinum Jail was with Toue. Sometimes I felt like something must be wrong with me since I didn't feel the same way, but those thoughts quickly went away when I realised there was no way that being so obsessed with another person you'd never even met was normal.

Suddenly Toue's familiar face flashed on the screen. Mom and dad looked like they were going to applaud and I had to force myself not to slap them both for being stupid.

Toue always looked very smart with his monocle, sharp suit and charming smile. Regardless of what everyone else said though I still didn't trust him. Of course I never said this to my parents or to anyone for that matter; I was smarter than that.

"Greetings, citizens of Platinum Jail," Toue said, smiling out of the TV. "I trust you are all having a wonderful day."

I rolled my eyes and took another rather violent bite of my sandwich. He sounded so condescending which I really hated.

"I apologising for not giving you any warning of this broadcast but this is very important. I would like to introduce you all to someone."

The camera shifted slightly and was now showing someone other than Toue. I frowned. This was unusual…

The figure now on the screen was a young man maybe a bit older than me. He had shoulder-length black hair with a fedora-style hat on. He was also wearing a white shirt and fingerless gloves with a skeleton pattern on them. The camera was only showing him from the waist up so I couldn't see what else he was wearing. He wasn't looking at the camera however, so I couldn't see his eyes; he was looking down at the ground. He was very pale and looked rather ill when I looked closely at him.

"This young man is named Sei," Toue's voice said. "He is very important to me, almost like a son. I hope you will all support him as you support me."

With those words, Sei looked up at the camera. He had black eyes which I couldn't help but think were very beautiful. I glanced at my parents to see what they were making of all this and I was shocked at what I saw. They were both gawping at the TV as if they never wanted to look away. It was even worse than it usually was whenever Toue was on the screen.

"Sei-sama…" my mom actually murmured under her breath.

"Um…are you two okay?" I asked, nudging mom, but she didn't even react. It was as if I wasn't even there. It was actually a bit scary. I started to shake mom harder. "Mom? Mom!" Still nothing.

In desperation I jumped up and turned the TV off, the image of Sei staring out of the screen disappearing. Turning back round to see if my parents were okay I saw them both blink in confusion before they started to look angry.

"Molly, why did you turn the television off?" my dad practically growled at me. "You knew that broadcast was mandatory."

"I tried to speak to you and neither of you reacted!" I cried. "I was scared; it was like you couldn't even hear me!"

"Turn it back on right now young lady," dad said, his voice dangerously quiet.

"No!" I refused. "If you want to watch it then put it back on yourself." With that I stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind me, well aware that I was acting like a spoilt child but really not caring.

The sky of Platinum Jail was once again set to night-time even though in reality it was just a little past 1 in the afternoon. That was the norm here though so I barely even noticed it anymore.

I walked down the street towards the centre of town, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. The streets were full of people as normal so presumably the broadcast had finished just after I'd turned the TV off. I expected to hear people talking about Sei but nobody was surprisingly.

I came to a fountain in the middle of the town square, about a two minute walk away from Oval Tower, and sat down at a bench next to the fountain. It was surprisingly quiet around here so I let myself slouch and my head dropped into my hands in frustration. Mom and dad were probably going to kill me when I went back home. I had a feeling I was really going to regret turning that TV off…

* * *

"_Do we have the results of the experiment?"_

"_Yes Toue-sama," one of the men sitting at the computer replied. "It seems as though both Alicia and Hiroshi Tsubomi reacted as expected to Sei-san's eyes, but it appeared to have no effect on Molly Tsubomi."_

"_Hmm…" Toue mused. "As I said, normally this will be a problem but it may be of use to us in this situation."_

"_Forgive me sir, but do you mean because of what the doctor said about Sei-san? About how he could use some company from someone of a similar age to him?" the computer-tech asked._

_Toue nodded. "Yes, that is exactly what I mean." He was silent for a few moments before speaking up again. "Get up Molly Tsubomi's Coil details. I have an invitation for her."_

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**AN: Thank you for reading! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3 - First Encounter

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: YES I AM STILL ALIVE AND NO I DID NOT QUIT THIS STORY.**

**I'm so sorry everyone…blame university. I've had placement at university for four weeks and I had exams literally just before that so I have had somewhere in the region of NO FREAKING TIME to do anything other than uni stuff, including writing. Buuuuuut IT'S SUMMER HOLIDAYS NOW so I can write as much as I want. WOOHOO!**

**Thank you to SmileRen for reviewing the last chapter!**

**This chapter is dedicated to ffchen sarah and KyaaILoveIt.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review!**

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**Chapter 3 – First Encounter**

I hadn't moved from the bench for nearly half an hour. I knew my parents would still be angry at me for turning the TV off during one of Toue's mandatory broadcasts, but I still didn't regret it. The weird trance-like state my parents had gone into had terrified me. I had always thought Toue had some sort of weird power which I didn't quite understand, but if he was using that to control people, especially my parents, I didn't care if there were repercussions for trying to stop it.

I had been sitting in relative silence except for the noise of the fountain next to me, but that peace and quiet was shattered when my Coil suddenly began to ring. I grumbled as I rolled my sleeve up to see it, presuming it was one of my parents calling to yell at me. I was surprised when I saw it was a pre-recorded video message instead of a phone call, and even more surprised that it was from an unknown sender. At first I thought it was some sort of advertisement or junk mail which I get sometimes, but when I pressed a button on my pale blue watch-like Coil it was a very familiar face which popped up. I visibly shrunk back when Toue appeared from my Coil.

"Hello Miss Tsubomi," he said with a smile on his face.

I shuddered when he said my name. Why was he contacting me privately? Was it about how I turned the TV off? My heart started slamming in my chest. Were my family and I going to get kicked out of Platinum Jail? My parents would never forgive me if we did because of me. I wouldn't care personally as a large part of me wished I could live in the Old Resident District anyway, but they may actually disown me if that happened. Despite their shortcomings I loved my parents; I didn't want that to happen.

"I am sending you this message so I may invite you to visit Oval Tower today at 4pm. I have a task I would very much appreciate for you to carry out for me. I assure you that you and your family will be rewarded handsomely for your time. I look forward to seeing you here in a few hours, although I must apologise ahead of time if I cannot be there to greet you in person. As I'm sure you understand I am a very busy man. In any case, thank you for your cooperation."

With one last charming smile Toue's face disappeared and I was left sitting at the fountain in confusion.

"What…just happened?" I wondered out loud.

Toue wanted me to come to Oval Tower in – I checked my watch – just under two and a half hours so I could do him a favour…? What the hell was going on?!

Unsure of what else to do I found myself trudging home before I even realised what I was doing. I walked in without knocking probably still looking shell-shocked to the confrontational face of my father.

"Molly, you are in such big trouble young lady," he started off literally before I could even close the door.

I held a hand up to stop him before he could say anything else. "Toue sent me a video message," I reported.

That definitely stopped dad in his tracks, and also caused mom to scream, "I'm coming! I'm coming!" before dad and I heard a loud crash before mom appeared in hall looking very excited.

"What did you just say?" dad asked.

"Toue sent me a private video message," I repeated, holding my Coil out and pressing the replay button.

They both watched the short video with just as much attention as they gave Toue if he was on the TV. Once it had finished they both stared at me open-mouthed.

"Well? What are you going to wear to go?" my mom asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? That's the first question you have after seeing that? Not wondering why he's contacted _me _and not somebody else?"

Both my parents shrugged. "What does it matter why you were chosen?" my dad asked. "The point is you were chosen. If you do this for Toue then maybe the neighbours will finally see us as belonging here."

The neighbours tended to think of us as outsiders. They didn't say is as such but we all knew they thought we didn't belong in Platinum Jail, and most of that was probably due to me being slightly more rebellious than most young people in here.

"And he did say we would be rewarded," mom said whilst nudging dad. "Maybe we could get a bigger house, like one of those big condos near the tower."

I saw their eyes light up at the thought of that and sighed. I really didn't care about getting a bigger house or the neighbours liking us or anything like that, but I knew it was important to my parents. It looked like they'd forgotten about my turning the TV off, at least for now, so I forced a smile onto my face and nodded.

"Well, I better go and get changed if I'm going to Oval Tower," I said in the most sincere voice I could muster.

* * *

I awkwardly yanked the skirt of my dress down lower, feeling really uncomfortable not wearing jeans like I always did. Mom had insisted I dress nice since there was a chance I was going to see Toue but I just felt very exposed. I did know how important this was to my parents however and, after the 'turning the TV off' incident I was determined to get back on their good side.

Even though I was half-American since I was brought up in Japan my father always drilled it into me that I was to respect my elders, especially my parents. As a child I never questioned it and I never would have dreamed of answering back to either my mom or my dad, but as I got older I realised just how easily led people could be and I swore I would never do something I didn't agree with just because everyone else was doing it. I still never answered back to my parents though, mostly out of habit. However ever since we moved to Platinum Jail my parents had become nothing much more than Toue-adoring zombies. I'd always been stubborn outside of the house, never caring if my classmates at school thought something was cool; if it wasn't something I was into I didn't force myself to like it just so people would like me. I never wore makeup at high school even when all my classmates did because I thought it was pointless and expensive. Whenever my friends went out drinking even though none of us were of age I stayed in and watched TV with my mom instead. It didn't make my school life easy but I didn't care; I was my own person.

Now however I knew I needed to do this. It looked like my parents had completely forgotten about my disobedience but if I refused to go to Oval Tower then I didn't know what Toue would do to me and my family. He hadn't exactly made it sound like I had much of a choice about going to the tower.

Whilst thinking of all of this I discovered that I'd walked right up to the main entrance to Oval Tower. There were two guards in white uniforms out front, both of them staring at me. I swallowed nervously and walked up to the one on the left.

"Um…my name is Molly Tsubomi," I said shakily. "I was asked by Toue-sama to come here."

"Do you have any proof of this?" the guard asked, looking bored.

I fiddled with my Coil before showing him the video Toue had sent me, still reeling that I'd had to call him Toue-_sama_. I didn't believe in showing that kind of respect to someone unless they'd earnt that respect.

The guard watched the video before glancing over at the other guard. They both nodded to each other before the one I'd been talking to looked back at me. "Wait here," he ordered before punching a passcode into the panel next to the door and entering the tower.

I stood there scuffing my feet along the sidewalk while the other guard kept his eyes trained on me for nearly ten minutes until the other guard came back out. He whispered something to his colleague and then turned to me. "Follow me," he said shortly before holding the door open for me. I squeaked a thank you out before darting into the door, aware that other people had started staring at me when they'd seen me waiting outside of the tower.

On the inside Oval Tower looked much like I'd expected; all white and pretty much empty. There were a lot of doors which I presumed lead to meeting rooms and offices, as well as multiple elevators and sets of stairs. The guard walked over to one of the elevators and pressed the button to call it. The door opened a few seconds later and he stepped in, me following quickly after him. He pressed the button to go to the top floor and the doors closed before the elevator started moving.

"You are to keep a young man company for the next hour under Toue-sama's orders," the guard said, staring straight ahead and not looking at me.

I frowned. "Um…right? What's this young man's name?" I asked.

"Sei-sama," the guard replied.

My eyes widened. "Sei? The guy with the black hair and the fedora who was on TV earlier?"

The guard never answered, not even giving an indication if he'd heard me or not.

"What do you mean by keep him company?" I asked. "Like am I to just talk to him or am I meant to do something specific with him?"

Again the guard didn't respond so I gave up, having a feeling he wasn't going to tell me anything else no matter how much I asked. We both stood in silence until the elevator dinged, informing us that we had reached the top floor. The elevator doors opened and I saw a door at the other end of a short corridor which had another two guards standing in front of it. The guard in the elevator with me indicated that I should get out and go to the door. I did so and one of the guards approached me as I did.

"Coil ID please," he said.

I held out my arm with my Coil on it and the guard pressed the button to bring up my ID which told him my name, age, date of birth, address and a bunch of other information (including my blood type for some bizarre reason). After skimming through it he nodded and stepped back slightly.

"You will be escorted from this room in exactly one hour," he informed me before standing back to allow me to push open the door.

Shaking slightly with the fear of the unknown I slowly pushed open the door in front of me. As I did the first thing I noticed was how colourful the room was compared to the plain clean white of the rest of the building. This room was filled with different toys, colourful boxes and I swore I could hear a bird chirping somewhere. Before I could get a closer look at the room though I jumped at the sound of the door locking behind me. Looks like I wasn't getting out even if I wanted to.

I properly looked around the room now and my eyes fell on a figure in a red plush chair in the middle of the room. The figure was so still that at first I thought it was a life-sized doll but I quickly realised that it was Sei. His eyes were pointed in my general direction but they weren't looking directly at me, almost as if he couldn't get his eyes to focus. He was wearing the same thing he'd had on when he'd been on TV: the black fedora, the white shirt which I could now see had a black vest top under it, and the black fingerless gloves with the skeleton pattern on them. I could also now see he was wearing some kind of half-skirt over a pair of long pants which also had a skeleton pattern on them, and white boots.

"Um…Sei, right?" I tried speaking, my voice the only sound other than the faint and distant chirping I still thought I could hear. "I'm Molly Tsubomi. It's nice to meet you."

I bowed polity as I'd been taught by my dad when I met someone new, but when I looked back up Sei hadn't moved and he still wasn't looking at me. I glanced around, hoping that something would distract me from feeling so nervous; my palms were starting to sweat and I hadn't stopped shaking since I'd gotten to the door of the tower. I began to slowly walk around the room, glancing back at Sei every so often to see if he was looking at me yet. He never was.

As I was pacing I casually glanced around at the walls and the ceiling. As I expected there were security cameras pointing right at me. I knew if I tried anything suspicious then the guards would be dragging me out of here before I could even begin to explain myself. Not that I was planning on doing anything suspicious anyway, but knowing I was being watched put me even more on edge.

Thankfully looking around at all these toys was somehow making me feel calmer. A strange sense of nostalgia washed over me as I spotted dolls and plushies I had when I was a child. Sei must have been the same age as me at least, more likely a little bit older, so I did wonder why he was in a room full of toys but I knew even if I asked him I wouldn't get an answer.

I spotted a teddy bear sitting next to a pile of colourful boxes and started to walk towards it. It was just an ordinary brown teddy bear with a pink ribbon around its neck, but it stuck out to me in this room full of other soft toys. As I crouched down next to it I heard a quiet noise behind me, like something had really quickly whipped through the air. As I looked behind me I had to force myself not to gasp when I saw Sei's brilliant black eyes staring directly at me. After a few seconds of silence I opened my mouth to speak.

"Is…it okay if I pick the bear up?" I asked softly, keeping my eyes locked on his.

I wasn't confident that I would get any form of answer but after a few seconds he blinked once. It wasn't like a normal blink, it was as if I'd said to him 'blink once for yes and twice for no.' Somehow, with no words being exchanged between us I knew he was okay with me picking up the bear. I turned away from him again, a small smile on my face as I picked up the teddy.

"You know," I started, still keeping my voice fairly soft so I didn't seem threatening, "I always wanted a teddy like this when I was a kid. I'd always ask my parents for a teddy bear for my birthday or for Christmas but they would always buy me some other kind of toy, thinking I was just asking for the bear to be modest. They said I deserved the best so they always bought me more expensive things. Any other child would have loved it I'm sure, but I just wanted a teddy. I guess I was a really weird kid."

All of a sudden I felt like someone was standing directly behind me. I turned around slowly and sure enough there was Sei, looking down at the teddy in my hands rather than me. I smiled up at him.

"You know, it's a shame to have all these toys here and not do anything with them," I remarked. "Would you like to play together?"

Sei blinked again once before he knelt down next to me. I offered him the bear but instead he picked up another stuffed animal – a tiger – and gently pushed his toy against the bear.

* * *

Sitting there with Sei playing simple games with the toys made time go by in a flash. Before I knew it the guards unlocked the door and came in, informing me that the hour was over and that I was now to leave immediately. I didn't see any point in arguing so I put down the toys I was holding and stood up.

"Well, bye Sei," I said to the boy still kneeling on the ground. "It was really nice meeting you."

Sei never looked up from the toys but I didn't mind. Other than when he had looked directly at me after I'd crouched down next to the bear he hadn't made eye contact with me at all.

I followed the guard out of the room and into the elevator. Once we were descending back down to the ground floor he began to speak.

"You are to return tomorrow at the same time, and every day after that for the foreseeable future," he informed me.

I simply nodded, part of me having been hoping that wouldn't be the last time I saw Sei.

The guards literally pushed me out of Oval Tower quickly so I began the walk back home, all my thoughts being focused on Sei. I didn't know the politically correct way of saying this but something was clearly wrong with Sei. If my suspicions were correct and he was indeed around my age – I was guessing somewhere in the region of 18 to 22 – then he was far too old to have that many toys in his room. That added on to the fact that he didn't seem to speak or have much ability to make eye contact. I had heard of a medical condition where it's almost like children are trapped inside adult bodies, so although someone physically may be 21, in their mind it's like they're only 7 or 8. Maybe that's what Sei had? Or maybe it was something like selective mutism? I had no idea.

What I did know though was I couldn't get him out of my head. I felt worried about him and I'd never had a proper conversation with the man. We'd spent the best part of an hour playing together like someone would play with a toddler. At first I'd been worried about how to speak to him; should I talk like I'm speaking to an adult or a child? And how do you speak to someone you know won't – or possibly can't – respond to you verbally? It hadn't taken me long to fall into a pattern though. I did speak to him like an adult but in a very soft and quiet tone of voice as if I was scared he'd run off if I raised my voice, which was partially true. Waiting for him to blink to answer a simple question also worked, but quiet often he took a long while to actually make that blink so I'd be staring at him for a fairly long period of time and I felt really awkward. I wasn't sure how or even _if _our relationship would change as I continued to visit him, but I knew I definitely wanted to keep visiting him, but not as some sort of favour to Toue. I wanted to see Sei for my own reasons, even if I wasn't that sure what those reasons were.

Before I knew it I found myself outside of my house. As soon as I walked in the door I was ambushed once again by my parents, but at least this time they were excited rather than angry.

"Well? What was he like?" my mom gushed.

"What was who like?" I asked, confused. They didn't know I was going to meet Sei, did they?

"Toue-sama of course," my dad replied.

I sighed heavily, knowing they wouldn't be happy with my response. "He wasn't there," I said. "I never saw him. Sorry."

Visible disappointment flooded the eyes of my parents and I desperately tried to stop myself from judging them very harshly for their obsession with Toue.

"But if it helps I'm to go back there tomorrow, and every day after for quite a while," I added. "So I might get to see him yet."

They both seemed a bit happier then and they both retreated into the kitchen to talk about how jealous they were of me. I grumbled under my breath, very annoyed that neither of them had even asked how my visit had gone after hearing that it didn't include Toue so I ignored my rumbling stomach and marched up the stairs, hoping I'd be able to find a hidden packet of biscuits in my room. I happily succeeded and munched away on them while staring out the window and up at the wall separating us from the Old Residents District.

I didn't leave my room for the rest of the night, managing to eventually drift off to sleep with my brain filled with thoughts about the mysterious young man I had met that day.

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**AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Sad Eyes

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to SmileRen for reviewing the last chapter! They asked a question which a few of you may be thinking about so to answer it, yes the blonde not-twins (i.e. Virus and Trip i.e. proof nothing good comes from messing with the mafia i.e. don't screw up or someone will put a snake in your butt) will be in this fic. Not for a little while but they will pop up at some point. Jackasses though they may be :-P**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please review!**

**This chapter is dedicated to AkiJudaichan, poppykiller, Crossdresser123, darkaoi8 and bloodplus103.**

**DISCALIMER: I don't own DMMD, I do own Molly and her parents.**

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**Chapter 4 – Sad Eyes**

The next day I returned to Oval Tower, this time in a much more comfortable pair of shorts and my normal purple hoodie which I'd left unzipped as it wasn't too cold with an old band top underneath. I had my hair up in bunches as per usual with a few annoying dark brown wisps flying in front of my eyes making me wish I'd pinned the loose bits back. I'd been oddly flustered leaving the house even though I'd purposely given myself plenty of time to get from my house to the Tower. Even so I didn't realise until I was halfway down the street than I had forgotten to tie my shoelaces and I'd left my watch on my desk in my room.

I took some deep breaths as I walked towards the Tower. Why was I so nervous? I somehow felt even shakier than I had the day before. Maybe because I thought Sei might react to me today?

My parents hadn't asked about my visit to the Tower at all after I'd told them I hadn't met Toue. Luckily I'd managed to convince them that there was a very tiny chance of me meeting Toue today either so they'd let me wear my normal clothes. But even wearing my comfortable clothes I was still edgy.

As Oval Tower came into view I checked my shoes again in paranoia, quickly yanking my socks back up over my knees. When the guards standing outside of the entrance to the Tower saw me one of them turned to open to door. I realised it was the same guard who had taken me up to Sei's room the day before. He was holding the door open for me, pointing towards the elevator by the time I reached the door so I silently ducked in and scuttled over to the elevator, pressing the button as I waited for the guard to join me. He did and the entire journey up to the door to Sei's room was silent. At one point I could feel a burp rising in my throat and had to swallow rapidly so that it wouldn't escape. When I could feel it disappearing I relaxed but then realised the guard was staring at me. I felt myself turn bright red and I quickly looked down, refusing to look at the guard again. I only let myself calm down when I was in Sei's colourful room and I heard the door lock behind me.

I finally let myself exhale and looked around the room. It hadn't changed since yesterday unsurprisingly; I could still hear a faint chirping coming from somewhere and Sei was sitting in the same position he had been yesterday, still not making eye contact with me.

"Hi Sei," I greeted him, smiling even though he wasn't looking at me. As I guessed he didn't respond but I knew he could hear me so I decided to keep talking. Maybe something would make him react.

"It's really warm out today," I continued. "Although it's a bit cooler in here. Guess you guys have air conditioning. It's weird, it's not usually this warm in Platinum Jail since the weather is controlled and all. I suppose they just decided to make it warm today for some reason."

I was well aware I was babbling but it was all I could think to do. It wasn't working though; Sei still hadn't moved. I sighed slightly before looking around, deciding to stick to a method that worked last time. I spotted a toy koala – Sei had a lot of stuffed animals from all over the world – and bent down to pick it up. I stroked its fur for a little while before I picked up a kangaroo which was sitting next to it. I tried to get into the mind-set of a child and started to play with the toys, making them 'talk' to each other. It didn't take long for me to see a shadow out of the corner of my eye before Sei crouched down to join me. He picked up another toy – I couldn't really tell what it was, it was the shape of a cow but it was blue for some reason – and like he had done the previous day he pressed it up against one of the toys I was holding, wiggling his toy slightly so it fluffed up the other one.

I smiled slightly. "So are they friends now?" I asked, looking up at Sei.

He didn't move his gaze from the toys but after a slight pause he blinked once, which from the system we'd somehow managed to establish from the last time I was there meant yes. I decided to push it slightly and hope I didn't scare him.

"And…are we friends Sei?" I asked softly.

Sei didn't move for at least a minute, but it felt like a lot longer. Then he pushed his toy against the koala I was holding again and blinked again, still not making eye contact with me.

I smiled and looked back at the toys, pushing the koala back against his toy. "I'm glad we're friends," I said quietly. For a split second I thought I saw Sei smile out of the corner of my eye but when I glanced at him it was gone.

* * *

This was how my days passed for quite a while. I would arrive at the Tower to see Sei sitting in his chair, go over and start playing with the toys and eventually Sei would join me. During my whole visit Sei wouldn't make eye contact and whenever the guard would tell me the hour was up and I had to leave he would just stay kneeling on the floor where he was. He never smiled, spoke or really emoted at all, but despite all that I found that I was enjoying coming to see him every day. My parents still didn't care or ask about what I did during the visits; they didn't even know I went to see Sei every day. They just asked if I'd seen Toue and whenever I said no they went back to whatever they had been doing.

One day though something changed, after I'd been visiting Sei for about a week and a half. When I pushed open the door to Sei's room, Sei's eyes flew to meet mine. I stepped back slightly in shock before the guard gave me a little shove into the room and locked the door behind me as usual. Sei kept looking at me and I swallowed hard.

I was stunned. Sei had only ever made eye contact with me that first day I'd visited him and that had only been for a few moments. I couldn't bring myself to look away from his eyes since I had barely seen them. They were black and shining like jewels. Although it was a strange thing to think of they were really beautiful.

I smiled at him and held eye contact. "Hi Sei," I greeted him like I always did, not expecting a response even if he was now looking at me. "So, what should we play with today?"

I walked over to the toys, glancing back at him every now and then to see if he was still looking at me, and he was. Almost as soon as I knelt down next to the toys I heard him standing up and quickly shuffling over to kneel next to me, looking round at me expectantly. I wasn't really sure what he was waiting for so I picked up one of the stuffed animals and handed it to him. He took it without protest before picking up a small teddy bear. He looked down at it before slowly holding it out to me, keeping his eyes on the bear. I couldn't help but smile as I gently took the bear from him. "Thank you," I murmured quietly. Sei glanced up at me for a split second before looking away quickly, stroking the toy I have given him.

The rest of the hour passed the same as it always did until the guard came in to tell me to leave. I nodded to him and looked over at Sei who as always was still playing with the toys.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Sei!" I smiled as I got ready to stand up. Something stopped me though before I left. Sei wasn't looking at me but I could see his eyes from the angle I was at. Normally when I left he was as emotionless as he always was but today something was different. I could see a tinge of sadness in his eyes as he stared down at the toys. Was…was Sei upset that I had to leave?

"I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" I said quietly, knowing he wouldn't reply but hoping if he was sad he would get some sort of comfort from knowing it wouldn't be long before I was back.

Not wanting the guard to get angry I stood up to leave, watching Sei as I walked towards the door. He didn't move from where he was kneeling on the floor though, and when the door closed all I could see was his back.

The guard led me to the elevator and pressed the button. When nothing happened he grunted.

"The elevator is broken," he announced. "We'll have to take the stairs."

Without waiting for me to respond the guard pointed towards the stairs. I sighed slightly but began to walk down them, the guard walking slightly behind me. As we walked I began to think about Sei as I usually did when I'd just left him. Something had been different about Sei today. If I didn't know any better I would say he was enjoying our visits just like I was. I realised with a smile that I was starting to get quite attached to him even though he had never said a word to me. For some reason the idea popped into my head that next time I should bring a game with me for us to play together, if I was allowed that is.

"Um…I was wondering something," I said, turning my head slightly to speak to the guard as we continued to walk down the stairs. "Would it be okay if I brought a game from home to play with Sei tomorrow?"

"What kind of game?" the guard asked, sounding boring.

"I dunno…something like Connect 4?" I suggested.

"If you bring it then I will have to check it before you are allowed into Sei-san's room," he said.

I shrugged. "Yeah, that's fine by me."

The guard didn't say anything else so I took that to mean I was cleared to bring a game. I left the Tower with a smile on my face, thinking about Sei and what we could do tomorrow.

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**AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it's a bit shorter than last time. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Games

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to Smile Ren and poppykiller for reviewing the last chapter!**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please review!**

**DISCALIMER: I do not own DMMD. I do own my OCs Molly, Alicia and Hiroshi Tsubomi.**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Games**

I'd found the game of Connect 4 much easier than I thought I would have considering the amount of clutter in my room. Quite helpfully it had been right at the top of a huge pile of board games stuffed in my closet which I was reluctant to throw out; I was a bit of hoarder, especially of things that held memories of my childhood.

I spent the rest of the day mooching around the house thinking about Sei as I now tended to do. His reaction today had somewhat shocked me; it had come really suddenly and I hadn't expected it. What had changed? It wasn't like it had been a gradual thing where he had been shooting small glances at me the past few days and then began to maintain eye contact. One day he never looked at me and the next it was like he didn't want to look away. For some reason I felt my heart speed up but I shook my head and went back to focussing on chopping the vegetables up for dinner. I tossed them in a pot of boiling water along with some stock cubes and put the lid on to let them cook.

Mom and dad were watching TV in the living room so I went through to join them. They both smiled at me as I walked in but other than that they didn't react, going back to watching the screen. A quick glance up told me they were watching the news so I watched along with them for a few minutes before I began to mess around with my Coil. The news was the same as always: propaganda about how the people living in the Old Resident District were so much worse off than we in Platinum Jail were. As usual I ignore this; I didn't think they were worse off than us just because they didn't have the same facilities that Platinum Jail held. If anything due to the fact they didn't have to deal with people going on and on about how amazing Toue was all the live-long day, I actually felt they were better off than me.

I checked my Coil for messaged and found none. I sighed slightly before playing a game I'd downloaded to distract me, the sound of the game turned off so it wouldn't bother my parents. I sometimes got messages from my old friends back in Hokkaido or from relatives in America but they were becoming few and far between. I'd heard mom say to dad that her side of the family didn't approve of us moving to Platinum Jail as it made us seem snobby, and I had a feeling the same applied for my Hokkaido friends. I tried to shrug it off like I didn't care but the idea that the opinion my friends and family held of me had dropped like that did hurt. It hadn't been my choice to move to Platinum Jail but what could I do about it? When we had moved here I was still a kid so I was too young to do anything like move out and live by myself, and now we were here it was very difficult to leave. I didn't want to live here for the rest of my life but getting out of Platinum Jail was much easier said than done.

Closing my game down I shuffled back through to the kitchen to finish up dinner. Taking the soup off the heat of the stove I brought out three bowls and spoons from the cupboard and ladled out three servings, leaving the rest of the soup to cool down fully so I could pour it into a plastic box and freeze the leftovers for lunch later on in the week.

I carried mom and dad's dinner through to them before going back to eat mine in the kitchen, listening to some music through my Coil as I ate. My thoughts easily wandered back to Sei. Had he grown up on his island or had he lived somewhere else like I did? I'd been told that before Platinum Jail had been built here the only thing on this site had been a scientific research facility so I doubted he had lived there, but he could have lived in the Old Resident District. Did he have a family? Toue had said Sei was "like a son" to him, so that implied they weren't actually related. What had happened to his family? He must have had parents, maybe a wider family than that.

I found I spent a lot of my time now worrying about Sei and I hadn't even known him a fortnight. It was strange, but somehow it also felt right for me to be concerned about him because, as I had realised, I cared about him a lot.

My heart once again sped up slightly but I stubbornly ignored it, swallowing down my soup without really tasting it. I washed up my dishes and decided to get an early night, leaving a note next to the soup telling mom and dad not to throw it out. I got ready for bed quickly and turned the lights out, staring out at the artificial night sky until I fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming about Sei and I escaping from Platinum Jail into the freedom beyond the towering walls surround us.

* * *

The next morning I got dressed quickly and made sure to double check that all the pieces in the Connect 4 game were in the box. I grumbled as I remembered all my shorts were in the laundry basket so I shoved on a skirt instead. I didn't mind wearing skirts or anything, I just felt less exposed in shorts. I pulled on white leggings under the skirt, a different old American band top than the one I'd worn the day before and my usual purple hoodie before scarpering down the stairs to deal with the soup I'd left the night before. As I poured it into a plastic tub I debated in my head if I should bring a portion to Oval Tower for Sei, but decided against it; the guards were already going to check the Connect 4 game to make sure I wasn't smuggling a bomb or something into Oval Tower. If I brought food for Sei they'd probably think I was trying to poison him even though I was a very good cook. Dad had once remarked I was going to make a fabulous wife for someone one day. I'd kicked him in the shin.

It looked like mom and dad had gone out somewhere so to pass the time before I had to leave I cleaned the whole house from top to bottom, even going so far as to clean the oven out. I was literally just trying to kill time before I went to see Sei and cleaning helped calm the strange jittery feeling in my stomach.

Even after all the cleaning I still had some time before I would normally leave the house, but I just decided to leave anyway and walk really slowly. Grabbing the game and my house key I walked onto the street, zipping my hoodie up as I locked the front door. I then realised I was so out of it I'd forgotten to eat anything all day so I quickly unlocked the door again and ran back in to grab a cereal bar to eat en route.

I munched through my makeshift breakfast/lunch and threw the wrapper in a nearby bin.

"Nice skirt."

I whirled around and came face to face with two blonde men. One of them, the shorter of the two, was wearing glasses and smiling at me. The taller one was just watching me with no expression on his face other than one of slight boredom.

I glanced down at my skirt before looking back up at the stranger and grinning. His tie was a similar pattern to my skirt. "Clearly you have excellent taste," I replied, causing the shorter man to chuckle.

Both men were very smartly dressed, the shorter wearing a black suit and white shirt with a plaid tie, and the taller wearing a suit of the same pattern and colour as the other's tie. They both looked very similar; maybe they were brothers?

I frowned slightly as I realised something. Both men were wearing very familiar pins on their jackets. It was a pink heart with little white angel wings. I realised immediately that it was the same pin Sei wore on his hat.

"You are Tsubomi Molly-san, correct?"

I blinked in surprise when the shorter man said my name. I wasn't used to people using my name with honorifics or saying my first name after my surname as was the norm in Japan. Since I had a western first name people tended to call me "Miss Tsubomi" when speaking formally, and all my friends in Hokkaido had just called me "Molly" or on occasion "Molly-chan."

"Um...yeah, that's me," I replied. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I do apologise. How rude of me," the shorter man bit his lip as if he was embarrassed. "My name is Virus and this here is Trip."

I nodded slowly. "Okay...and how did you know my name?"

"Well Tsubomi-san-"

"Just Molly is fine," I interrupted Virus.

"Molly-san," Virus corrected himself, "we are acquaintances of Sei-san."

My eyes widened. I hadn't been expecting that.

"We just wanted to thank you for coming to visit him," Virus continued before I could ask anything. "He really does appreciate your company."

"Does he actually speak to you?" I blurted out just one of the dozens of questions that had popped into my mind.

Virus shook his head sadly. "No, Sei-san doesn't speak to anyone unfortunately. But we can tell he enjoys your company."

I sighed heavily, not sure if I was feeling relief or sadness. On the one hand I would have been happy if Sei had told Virus and Trip about me, but on the other hand I would have felt somewhat jealous if Sei spoke to these two and not to me.

"We wanted to ask you something Molly," the other man, Trip, spoke up.

"Yes," Virus nodded in agreement. He glanced around as if he was checking if anyone was listening and then leaned in closer to me. "We wanted to ask you if Sei-san seemed weaker to you than he used to. We are both a bit concerned for him."

I frowned, trying to think. "I...I honestly haven't noticed," I admitted. "I hadn't really thought about it..."

Virus nodded and stepped back. "Don't worry, hopefully we are just imagining it."

I frowned up at the two blondes. They didn't look very concerned about Sei despite their words, they looked completely indifferent.

"Well, we had better be off then," Virus smiled. "It was lovely meeting you Molly-san.

"Wait!" I called before they could walk away, causing them both to turn back to face me. "Um...do you think I'd be allowed to bring some food for Sei?"

Trip smirked slightly, causing my gaze on him to harden. "There's no point," he scoffed.

Virus elbowed him before turning on that charming smile. "What he means, Molly-san, is that the guards would not allow you to bring food in for Sei. It is a security problem I'm afraid. It's a very nice thought though."

I nodded slowly as the two blondes both turned and disappeared down an alley. That had been…unexpected.

* * *

The guards did search through the Connect 4 box extremely thoroughly as expected, checking each and every one of the red and yellow chips in case it was some kind of tiny bomb, but eventually they accepted it was just an ordinary game and let me enter the building with it.

When I entered Sei's room what Virus and Trip had asked me about flew into my head, and when I took a proper look at Sei I felt my heart sink. I hadn't even noticed but…he was looking weaker. His skin was even paler than it had been when I'd first started visiting him. His eyes, which had once again flown to mine as soon as I walked in, were slightly sunken into his head, and he was dangerously skinny as if he hadn't been eating at all. I wanted to kick myself for not having noticed this sooner, and now I was even more worried about Sei than I had been before.

Of course I didn't want Sei to see me worried so I just smiled as normal.

"Hi Sei," I greeted.

Sei's eyes darted from my gaze to the box in my hand.

"Oh yeah, I brought a game we could play. That is if you want to?" I asked, holding the box out to him.

Sei very slowly moved his arms and gently took hold of the box, staring down at it like it was the most fragile thing on the planet. I quickly looked around and grabbed what looked like a big red footstool for me to sit on and a small table we could play the game on. I then took the box back from him and quickly set the game up.

"Okay, so this game is called Connect 4," I explained. "You get all the yellow counters and I get all the red ones, and the goal is to get four counters in a row without the other person blocking it. So, for example I might put a counter here," – I placed a counter at the top of the middle counter and let it fall –, "and then you would have to put your counter in somewhere and try to get four yellows in a row without me blocking you. Okay?"

Sei stared at the game for a long while before he blinked to show me he understood.

"Okay, so why don't you start?" I offered, retrieving the counter I had put in as a test.

It genuinely took him about three minutes to decide where to put his first counter, and that pretty much set us up for most of the rest of the day. At first Sei was losing pretty much every game, not realising that I was making a very obvious straight line out of red counters, so I started to let him win so he didn't feel stupid. At some point though he actually began to beat me fair and square and by the time the guard came to tell us that the hour was up he had won more games than he'd lost which considering he had never played before that day was extremely frustrating to me.

"Time's up," the guard announced.

I glanced over at him and nodded, emptying the counters out of the frame and packing the game away in its box.

"Well, bye then Sei!" I said as always, looking down at the box to make sure I'd closed it properly as I turned to leave.

Suddenly there was something physically holding me back from leaving the room. I slowly looked back around to see that Sei, looking down at the floor, had grabbed hold of my skirt with one hand, the other hand still resting on the table where we had been playing the game.

My heart sped up. He didn't want me to go and for some reason that made me both happy and extremely nervous. Why didn't he want me to go? Was it because he missed me? Or were the people here mistreating him when I left? Or both?

I glanced back round at the guard who now looked very impatient. I knew I didn't have time to stay and ask questions so instead I turned back to Sei and crouched down so I could look up at his face, Sei letting go of my skirt as I did so. I rested one of my hands on the table as I did so to steady myself and Sei's eyes darted up to lock with mine.

"I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" I said softly, smiling to try and reassure him. "I promise."

Then Sei did something he'd never done before.

He nodded.

But before I could even get shocked about that I felt something on my hand. Sei had moved his hand ever so slightly so our fingertips were now touching.

"Tsubomi-san, you must leave right now," the guard suddenly said, stepping into the room and hoisting me up by my arm. I cried out in shock and tried to pull away from him but he shoved me out the room and just pointed at the stairs. I grumbled, knowing it was useless to argue, and walked silently down the stairs while I turned over everything that had happened in my head.

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**AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Last Time

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so sorry this has taken so long to update! I didn't have wifi for nearly three weeks and then I had piles of university work, but FANFICTION, I'M BACK BABY!**

**Thank you to poppykiller for reviewing the last chapter!**

**I hope you all enjoy that chapter. Please review!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Neeky-chan, Touchmyotaku, AnimeLoverKenzo3 and Blazeingheroine.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own DMMD. I do own my OCs Molly, Alicia and Hiroshi Tsubomi.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Last Time**

I twisted the material of my skirt through my fingertips as I walked towards Oval Tower. It had been almost 24 hours since Sei had tried to stop me from leaving by grabbing hold of my skirt, and then he had nodded at me which had never happened before.

I'd apparently been visibly shaken by everything that had happened; I'd had three people on the street asking if I was okay as I walked home and even my parents had been concerned, saying I was so pale I looked like I'd seen a ghost.

In some aspects they were right. Sei had never emoted apart from making eye contact ever since I'd been visiting him, and then all of a sudden he'd looked desperate for me to not leave him. Although I'd only known Sei for a few weeks I felt like I might have caught a glimpse of a Sei from the past, maybe before he came to Platinum Jail or at least before he came to Oval Tower. That thought made me angry. Who had caused him to become so withdrawn? People don't act like that without a reason.

Sei was like a child in so many ways. I felt the desire to look after him so strongly that I'd genuinely considered trying to smuggle him out of Platinum Jail and into the real world outside, but of course that was ridiculous. For one I would never be able to leave Platinum Jail myself by sneaking out, let alone sneak someone else out with me. And even if we managed to get out of Oval Tower, Toue's guards would catch us long before we made it out of the towering walls surrounding the complex.

Last night however I'd had another dream about Sei and I escaping Platinum Jail together. This time we were standing at the very top of Oval Tower. We both let ourselves fall, plummeting towards the ground before we suddenly swooped upwards again, carried out of Platinum Jail on giant wings on our backs which looked like they should belong to angels.

"Ahem."

I stopped walking suddenly and my eyes shot up. I'd been so deep in thought and I'd been staring at the ground as I was walking that I didn't realise I'd nearly walked right into one of the guards outside of Oval Tower.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologise, shaking my head slightly to bring myself back down to earth.

"You're early," the guard frowned.

I glanced down at my coil and bit my lip. He was right, I was really early.

"I'm sorry, I can just wait outside," I offered.

The guard nodded and pointed at a bench about ten metres away from the door. Without saying another word I sat down on it and wrung my hands together nervously. What was Sei going to be like today? He'd been changing so much these past few days, and I wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

As I started to think about all these things again a few snippets of conversation between the guards managed to swim into my ears.

"…the girl immune to Sei-san's eyes…tomorrow…Special Commemorative Event…"

I frowned at these words but I didn't react; if the guards knew I'd heard them I would probably get into trouble.

Time passed and I blocked out the rest of the conversation between the guards until one of them called for me to come in. The elevator was working again now so the guard and I rode up in silence. As he held the door into Sei's room open for me, Sei's eyes and mine flew to each other's. Somehow seeing him there made me feel a bit better and I felt my pulse slow down as I relaxed slightly. Sei was right here. He was fine.

"Hi Sei," I smiled as I heard the door lock behind me.

Sei's eyes dropped slightly as he looked at my hands which were empty.

"Sorry, I couldn't bring any games again today," I apologised, sitting down on the red footstool which was still positioned next to his chair from yesterday. "Besides, you were getting far too good at Connect 4. I can't have a complete newbie beating me like that!" I joked.

Sei didn't look upset that I hadn't brought any games today which was good. What I really wanted to do was ask him if he was okay. I wanted to find out if the people here were hurting him. I wanted to know about his past before he came here. But not only was I not even sure if Sei could physically speak since he never had to me before, but even if he could speak there were cameras all over the room. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Toue's little minions were watching us right now. Because of that I couldn't ask Sei all the things I wanted to. I couldn't tell him about the things I was worried about. If I'd been smart I would have figured out if there was a blind spot somewhere in the room that the cameras couldn't see but even if I did that if I dragged Sei into a blind spot then chances are the guards would come running in thinking I was assassinating him or something.

The thought of these people hurting Sei made me so angry and upset. With no warning I felt something splash onto my lap and realised that I was actually crying. Sei's eyes narrowed slightly in concern and I saw his hand twitch as if he wanted to comfort me but didn't know how. I quickly dried my eyes and forced a smile at him.

"Sorry Sei. I'm fine, honestly," I lied. "Tell you what, why don't we play rock, paper, scissors? It's really easy, I'll show you."

After teaching Sei the rules and playing the game for a while we went back to our old playing tradition of playing with the plushies littered about the room. I found the bear I'd spotted the first time I visited and smiled fondly at the memories of all my visits with Sei.

We were both sitting on the floor with our stuffed animals when I heard the door getting unlocked and a guard came in.

"Time to leave," he announced.

I sighed heavily but nodded, placing the bear down and standing up.

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow Sei!" I smiled.

Then it happened again.

Sei grabbed onto my skirt from his spot on the floor and a slightly shiver shot up my spine.

Thinking about what happened last time I crouched down next to him and smiled gently. "I'll be back tomorrow Sei, I promise," I reassured him.

But that didn't work this time. Sei now let go of my skirt and grabbed hold of my hand, his eyes turning to look right into mine. I gasped softly at the sight of his tear-filled eyes. What was going on? Why was he so upset?

I heard heavy footsteps behind me and once again the guard was grabbing hold of me by the arm and dragging me away, yanking my hand away from Sei's grasp.

"Let go of me!" I shrieked, trying desperately to pull away but with no success. I twisted my head around to see that Sei was still staring after me, the hand he'd grabbed mine with now clenched into a fist. He looked just how I felt: upset but also furious.

"Sei, I swear I'll be back tomorrow," I called. "I promise!"

Those were the last words I got out before the door to his room slammed shut.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" I screamed at the guards, no longer caring about being polite or the chance the Toue could walk around the corner at any moment. "I would have left as soon as Sei had let go of my hand!"

The guard didn't respond. He never ever looked at me, simply walking over to the elevator and blocking the door so it wouldn't close, waiting for me to get in. I seriously considered refusing and staying outside of Sei's room until they let me back in but I knew that would never work, so grumbling under my breath I stalked into the elevator with the guard right behind me.

We were about half way down Oval Tower when the guard finally spoke up.

"You do not need to return to Oval Tower again, Miss Tsubomi."

I blinked in confusion before slowly turning around to look at him. "…What do you mean?" I asked slowly, my heart speeding up in fear.

"This was the last time you will visit Sei-san," he clarified, a hint of malice in his voice.

My palms began to sweat.

"Wait…if this is because of me yelling then I'm sorry. I lost my temper. It won't happen again," I blurted out quickly, terrified that he might be serious.

"That makes no difference," the guard replied. "This decision was taken before you even began visiting. You were only told you would visit Sei-san for the foreseeable future, not that it would go on forever. Your presence here is no longer required. If you return to Oval Tower you will not be permitted to enter."

By now the elevator had reached the ground floor and the guard motioned for me to get out. I couldn't move though. I was in shock. What the hell was he talking about?! How could they have not warned me of this?!

"You have to let me come back at least once more," I begged. "I need to say goodbye to Sei. Please."

"Impossible," the guard shook his head before he started to physically push me out of the elevator.

"No!" I screamed, beginning to lose it. "This isn't fair! You never told me! Why did you never tell me?!"

Everything I cried out after that was incomprehensible both to the guards and to me with the exception of the colourful swear words directed at both the guard and Toue himself. The guard eventually literally threw me out of the tower and slammed the door in my face, the other two men guarding the door not even bothering to look at me.

Staring up at the gigantic tower from the ground made it look impenetrable. My eyes flew right to the top where I knew Sei's room was and I started to cry, screaming Sei's name into my hands as I wept.

* * *

"Molly! We have amazing news!"

I clenched my fists at the excitement on my dad's face. He was completely oblivious to how upset I was. I had just been shrieking in the street, my eyes were still blood-red and my voice was hoarse, and I had cuts on my hands and knees from when the guard had flung me out the door, and yet neither of my parents seemed to notice, their eyes glazed over in what I now called a "Toue-trace". The jackass had obviously just been on TV and the effect hadn't worn off on them yet.

"There's going to be a special announcement in the plaza tomorrow at 1pm!" my mom gushed, her eyes sparkling. "And Toue-sama himself will be there!"

"What the hell do I care?" I replied, my voice monotone. "I'm not going."

From their laughs both my parents presumed I was joking.

"Don't be silly Molly," dad chuckled. "Of course you're going! It's mandatory anyway."

I gritted my teeth and pushed past my parents, having to strength left to put up a façade of caring about Toue or his stupid broadcast, and I ran into my room. Slamming the door shut behind me I crumpled to the floor and burst into tears again.

As I sat on the floor sobbing a horrific thought popped into my head causing my heart to grow cold. I'd promised Sei I would be back tomorrow but now I wouldn't. He would think I'd lied to him. I imagined Sei sitting in his usual chair waiting for me to come and then me never showing up again. Would they tell him what had happened? Or would they lie and say I got bored of coming? Would Sei think it was his fault? Or would he hate me because he thought I'd abandoned him?

Picturing Sei sitting alone in his room like a caged bird made me cry a fresh set of tears. At some point my mom called up the stairs that dinner was ready but I didn't reply or come down, and she made no effort to see if I was okay.

I stayed in a crumbled heap at my door for the rest of the night until I eventually cried myself to sleep, nightmares of Sei turning his back on me and being trapped forever haunting me throughout my uneasy rest.

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm excited to say that Aoba and Ren will be joining Molly in the next chapter so I hope you'll look forward to that. Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Aoba

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS TOOK ME FOREVER I AM SORRY DON'T HATE MEEEEEEE.**

**Thank you to Neeky-chan, SmileRen, Blazeingheroine and poppykiller for reviewing the last chapter.**

**This chapter is dedicated to kinbarii tan, Aerishime, Ayane-Hale and Alexus Uzumaki.**

**Also thank you to my friend Amiee who has drawn awesome fanart of Molly! :-D**

**DISCLAIMER: DRAMAtical Murder is owned by Nitro+chiral. I own my OCs Molly, Alicia and Hiroshi Tsubomi.**

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**Chapter 7 - Aoba**

"Molly, come on! Don't lag behind."

I made a point of ignoring my mom, shoving my hands deeper into my pockets and kicking a stone rather violently along the sidewalk. Mom and dad had indeed forced me out of the house to go to the special commemorative event Toue was holding in the plaza and I was making sure they knew I wasn't happy about it. I was walking quite a distance behind them both with my hood up and looking down unless I glanced up to glare at them. I had huge bags under my eyes too so I looked even worse; I hadn't slept at all the night before because I'd been crying about Sei. I was so scared that he would think I'd abandoned him or that Toue's men were going to hurt him.

The noise coming from the plaza was getting louder and louder as we approached, so I looked up to see what was going on. All the way down Main Street from here to the plaza was a huge parade with a band, people in costumes and dancers weaving in and out of the crowd. It was all very colourful and cheerful with everyone we passed having huge smiles on their faces. I must have stuck out like a sore thumb with my gloominess but nobody was paying attention to me anyway.

I did start to look around the crowds of people though in the hopes of seeing two specific people: Virus or Trip. Although they had seemed a bit strange I hoped if I was able to speak to them they would be able to tell me if anything had happened to Sei. Maybe they would be able to get a message to him from me. It was a long shot but I was willing to take it, but I couldn't see either of them anywhere in the crowd. Sighing heavily I continued to trudge behind my parents as we approached the plaza, keeping my eyes on the crowd just in case.

When we reached the plaza in front of the tower I couldn't help but stare longingly at the entrance to Oval Tower. Just yesterday I'd been walking through those doors to visit Sei and now I didn't know if I would ever see him again. I clenched my fists and forced myself to look away from the door, knowing if I kept thinking about it I may actually do something stupid like try to break in.

Instead I turned my attention to the huge screens that had been erected outside of the tower. They were blank for now but no doubt Toue's face would soon appear on them and everyone around me would start to shriek, including my parents.

I heard a guy to my left yell, "Toue-san's the best!" before he stumbled away from a very confused and annoyed looking young man in blue. I rolled my eyes.

"Bit early to be drunk," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest with my hood still up. My dad glared at me for complaining but I didn't care; I wanted everyone to know I was in no mood to be here.

Suddenly everyone started to cheer and I glanced down at my coil. 1pm. It was about to start. Bracing myself for the upcoming stupidity and propaganda I turned my eyes back to the screen just as Toue's face appeared. He was also on the balcony of the tower but it was easier to see him on the screen. There was one guard on either side of him and someone standing slightly behind him but I couldn't see who it was; probably just another guard.

"Everyone."

And with one word from Toue the entire crowd fell silent. The amount of power this man had both scared and infuriated me.

"On this occasion, I would like to thank you all for coming to this Special Commemoration Event," he smiled. "I would like to celebrate this day, the 10th anniversary of the opening of Platinum Jail. It certainly has been a while."

My eyes widened slightly. Had it really been 10 years? We had moved here not long after the opening so I must have only been 8 years old… Somehow it didn't seem as long as that but at the same time it felt like a lifetime ago.

"Yes," Toue continued. "Time will not stop for us. And for this reason, I believe that everyone should spend their limited time here as happy as they can be. But what is happiness? I've always wondered. Happiness is not something so easily obtained. But I also believe that anyone can seize it. No matter the setting, people can find a way to be able to laugh from the bottom of their hearts, find delight, and obtain a sense of tranquillity. And if everyone were to be able to achieve this, there would be no need for fighting."

I sighed quietly under my breath. There it was, Toue's old favourite. If there was only happiness in the world then everything would be okay. But that was a load of crap in my eyes. People will always find something to fight over, it's human nature. But from the stupid smiled plastered on everyone else's face around me I could tell I was the only one who thought this.

"Anger and sadness are the fruits of adulthood," Toue's voice boomed out over the plaza. "That argument is plausible. However, everyone suffers from the two throughout their daily lives. I would want them to forget their ordinary lives and live happily within the moment. And I would also want this place to become their second home. I'm always wishing for that; always wishing for happiness to trickle down from person to person."

Toue placed his hand on his chest and looked down for a moment, and immediately the crowd burst into applause and cheering. I actually jumped at how suddenly the noise appeared before glaring at everyone around me for being so easily led. They were like members of a cult with Toue as their leader and it disgusted me.

"This even will be open for two days," Toue spoke up again, causing the crowd to fall silent. "The main event is tomorrow. Today is the eve of that. Before tomorrow comes, I would like to display a new 'joy' for everyone here… Now, here."

Toue turned and motioned for the person standing behind him to come forward. As the figure slowly shuffled towards him and came into view I felt my heart stop. My legs gave out from under me and I collapsed to the ground, but nobody around me noticed because they were too fixated on Toue and what was going on. I could hear the tremble in my voice as a single word escaped my mouth in a whisper.

"…Sei…"

It was him. I couldn't believe he was there. He was looking down at his feet and I could see him swaying slightly from side to side like he couldn't find his balance. All I wanted in that moment was to run up to him, grab him and for both of us to escape Platinum Jail together. But even if that had been possible I couldn't move due to the shock of seeing him. Sei looked so sad, like he wanted to cry but he didn't have the strength to, and I felt tears welling up in my own eyes seeing him like that.

"His name is Sei," Toue began to speak again. "He is like a son to me. I wouldn't be the man I am today if not for him. He is most precious to me. I would like to introduce him to you all for this event."

I felt my fists clenching as I found the strength to get to my feet again from pure rage. If he was like a son to him then how could he let him get so frail? What had he done to make him look so upset and scared? "Precious to me" my ass.

"He is both my pride and joy. He is the messenger that will bring happiness to peoples' hearts. I would greatly appreciate it if you could give him your blessings," Toue beamed down at the crowd.

The crowd started to chant Sei's name and I began to feel physically sick. I began to wonder if Toue was doing this simply to get to me. He'd been the one to ask me to visit Sei and then he'd decided I was suddenly to stop. He must have known I'd be here since it was a mandatory event, so was he showing Sei just to make me feel his angry and upset?

Suddenly the cameras zoomed in on Sei's face so that he was the only thing being displayed on the screens. His eyes flicked up so he was looking directly in the camera and my heart sank again. He just looked so sad and lonely… All I wanted to do was rescue him.

That was when I began to realise something strange was happening to the people around me.

Everyone was staring at the screens just like they had been when Toue had been up there, but it was different now. Everyone's mouths were hanging opened and their eyes wide almost as if they were hypnotised. Looking up at my mom and dad I realised why this seemed familiar: when Sei had first appeared on our TV screen in our house mom and dad had looked exactly like that, and they did again now.

I frowned in thought as something slowly dawned on me. Toue had just introduced Sei to all these people…but he had also introduced Sei during the mandatory broadcast at my house. My eyes widened as I considered something. Could…could Toue have only had that broadcast shown in _our _house and nowhere else? But why?

Before I could think more about that I heard a cry to the left of me and I whipped round. A few meters away the young man in blue who the drunk had crashed into earlier was crouched on the ground with his head in his hands, his face screwed up in pain. He was the only other person apart from me who wasn't gawking at Sei's face right now.

But before I could react in any way Toue started to speak again.

"Thank you. I'm very grateful for all of your blessings. I believe that this entire island, not only Platinum Jail, will be able to enjoy tomorrow's main event."

That last sentence caught my attention and my head turned back to the screen. On it was now showing – where Sei had been merely seconds before – the Old Resident District of Midorijima. That asshole! He was going to do something to the rest of the islanders!

"Due to Platinum Jail's construction, I'm sad to say that this district does not share our enthusiasm: the islanders still live here and there, uncooperative," Toue's voice spoke over the image. "That fact has always been looming over us, but now they have been coming towards us and showing us a sign of compromise. I will now show you an image of the Old Resident District for this event. Please take a look at their condition."

Everyone clapped and cheered as the picture changed to show the residents of the rest of Midorijima staring at TV monitors showing this very event. They all looked as lobotomised as the people standing around me. I bit my lip, praying silently that whatever had happened to them was only temporary.

"They too will reach paradise sooner or later," Toue's face came back onto the screens with Sei back standing slightly behind him out of view. "I would like you all to welcome them in and get along."

Everyone began to applaud again and I turned back to look at the guy in blue. He was back on his feet and was glaring at Toue with about as much venom as I felt towards him. I smiled slightly. Just like I thought, this guy wasn't falling for any of Toue's crap either.

A man next to the blue guy started to cheer for Toue and I gasped slightly when the blue guy grabbed him by his collar. He muttered something to him whilst glowering at him and I resisted the urge to applaud.

"Wh-what's with you?" the man cried at the blue guy.

"Shut your face!" the blue guy yelled.

"Why're you so angry?" the man frowned. "Didn't Toue-san say it? That we should open our minds to be as happy as…"

"Shut up!" the blue guy screamed right in his face.

He raised his fist to punch the man in the face and without thinking I darted forward to grab his arm. His head flew round to face me and he seemed startled to see me, relaxing slightly.

"Don't cause a scene," I muttered to him. "If you don't look like you're as Toue-crazy as the rest of them you'll be too noticeable."

"Listen to her Aoba," a deep voice from the blue guy's bag called out. "Calm down."

I looked down to see the face of a small dark blue dog popping out of his bag. It must have been an AllMate.

The blue guy – Aoba from what his AllMate said – relaxed his grip on the man's collar and he managed to run away.

"If you start acting up then we won't be able to make any moves," the AllMate said.

"I know that!" Aoba grumbled.

"One of your bad points had always been that you can't control your temper," the AllMate said rather fondly. I giggled slightly and Aoba looked round at me, a small smile on his face.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said. "Are you okay? Like…Toue isn't…"

I shook my head. "I'm not one of his little mind slaves. He's a dick."

Aoba's smile widened as I said that but before he could say anything else his Coil started to ring. I backed away to give him some privacy and wandered back over to my parents who were still grinning like idiots. I tisked at them and glanced back over to where Aoba should have been but he'd disappeared. I cursed under my breath that I'd lost him and tried to spot his bright blue hair in the crowd.

All of a sudden the crowd started to cheer again as Toue's voice boomed out.

"I said this earlier, but in Japan right now it is only the eve of tomorrow's true performance. SO please, relax and be content for now… I will be taking my leave."

Toue smiled and was lead back into the tower, along with Sei. I swallowed hard as tears sprung back up, desperate to run after him but knowing I couldn't.

As people slowly started to leave the plaza I spotted a flash of blue out of the corner of my eye. I felt relief flood over me when I saw it was Aoba. I needed to go after him; he had reacted different to Sei than everyone else and I needed to find out why.

My parents had started to come around from their Toue-trance so I tugged on my mom's sleeve to get her attention.

"I'm going round to a friend's house," I said hopefully somewhat casually.

She simply nodded with a dreamy look on her face as she and my dad began to walk back home. I resisted the urge to knock their heads together as I found Aoba again. He was started to leave the plaza too so I slowly began to follow him.

I didn't want to just jump on him and start asking all these questions because chances are he would think I was crazy. Not that tailing him all the way back to wherever he was staying wasn't creepy either but to me it seemed like the lesser of two evils.

Eventually we reached a street of really nice houses not far from the tower. Aoba walked into one of the house which said "Glitter" over the door still holding his head. I hung back for a few minutes before I walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.

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**AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8 - Planning

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I AM SO SO SO SO SOOOOOO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! A lot of stuff happened in my private life in not a lot of time and I have had absolutely no time for writing any of my fanfiction and I hate that. I am so sorry; please don't all hate me!**

**Thank you to SmileRen, Blazeingheroine, Neeky-chan, poppykiller, ToukoKakashi and JediGemini for reviewing the last chapter!**

**This chapter is dedicated to ToukoKakashi, SpiedCookie126, yuki kagoshima, TheParadoxicalOxymoron and The Hallows Queen, and also my friend Amiee who reads this (AND IS GOING TO COSPLAY AS MOLLY CAUSE SHE'S THE BEST PERSON EVERRRRRRRR).**

**DISCLAIMER: DRAMAtical Murder is owned by Nitro+chiral. I own my OCs Molly, Alicia and Hiroshi Tsubomi.**

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**Chapter 8 - Planning**

I stood fidgeting on the doorstep to 'Glitter' for a good few minutes before Aoba slowly opened the door. He'd removed his big blue jacket revealing a dark blue long sleeved shirt underneath, and he was holding what looked like a tub of painkillers. He frowned when he saw me.

"You're…that girl from the plaza right?" he asked slowly.

I nodded. "Yes, my name is Molly. Aoba, right?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, "but what're you doing here?"

"I kinda followed you home," I confessed. "I'm sorry but can I come in? It's about Toue and Sei."

Aoba's eyes widened slightly and he stepped aside to let me in, holding the door open for me.

Walking in I kicked my shoes off on reflex even though this was a Western Style house and looked around. I could see stairs leading up to the second floor but the ground floor held a very nice looking living room with a door I presumed lead to a kitchen.

"I was upstairs when you knocked," Aoba said, already half-way up. "Come on up."

I nodded and followed him, grinning when I reached the top and saw his AllMate sitting on a couch in another sitting area with a bar.

"Hello again," the dog greeted me.

"Hi there," I smiled. "I didn't catch your name?"

"Ren," the dog introduced himself, bowing his head slightly.

I bowed back. "Hello Ren, nice to meet you. My name's Molly. Molly Tsubomi."

Aoba had gone to the kitchen to get a drink of water and had swallowed down two of the pills in the tub.

"Are you okay?" I asked him as he walked back over to us.

"Oh, this?" he pointed to the tub of pills. "Yeah I'm fine. I get headaches a lot; this is just for them."

"Ah okay," I smiled, relieved it wasn't anything more serious.

"So anyway," Aoba continued, sitting down and motioning for me to do the same. "What brings you here? I'm presuming you followed me for a good reason?"

I nodded, sitting down next to him and Ren. "Yes I did. I saw you didn't react to Sei's eyes the same way as everyone else, and neither did I. Do you know why you didn't?"

Aoba shook his head. "I have no idea. I couldn't look away from his eyes at first but then it suddenly gave me these horrible shooting pains in my head and I was able to look away. They didn't affect you either?"

It was now my turn to shake my head. "No, Sei's eyes have never done anything to me."

Aoba frowned. "Wait, what do you mean? You've seen Sei before?"

I nodded. "I used to visit him every day up until yesterday. Toue contacted me through my Coil and asked me to keep him company for an hour every day 'for the foreseeable future' so that's what I've been doing. I was told yesterday out of the blue that I wasn't permitted to come back to the Tower anymore." My fists clenched in anger remembering how I'd been torn away from Sei and thrown out of Oval Tower. "I know Sei. He would never purposely hurt anyone. Toue is another matter though. He must be forcing Sei to control everyone; I know he'd never do that himself."

Aoba leaned back on the coach and exhaled slowly, clearly trying to wrap his head around all this. He was silent for a few minutes before he frowned and sat forward again, facing me.

"So you're saying he was controlling all those people using his eyes?" he asked.

"I think so," I replied. "Yesterday I heard some guards outside Oval Tower talking about 'the girl immune to Sei-san's eyes' and now that I think about it they were probably talking about me."

Aoba and Ren shared a look and Ren nodded once. "That sounds like Scrap," he said in his surprisingly deep voice.

"Scrap? What's that?" I asked.

Aoba looked back over at me. "Molly, this might sound weird but do you mind if I try something on you? I have the ability to control people too in a way and if Sei's eyes have no effect on you then maybe my voice won't either."

I nodded slowly. "Okay…you won't hurt me right?"

Aoba smiled kindly. "Of course not. I give you my word."

Something about Aoba implored me to trust him. He seemed like a really kind and genuine person so I saw no reason to distrust him, so I nodded again before squeezing my eyes shut out of nerves. "Is this okay?" I asked.

"No problem at all," Aoba replied, and his voice had changed slightly. It sounded almost more seductive, but the thought of that just made me want to laugh so I didn't mention it.

Aoba spoke some more but now all I could think of was that it sounded like he was trying to seduce me and I had to focus all my energy on not bursting out laughing. After a few minutes he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Alright, I'll stop now," he said, his voice back to normal.

I took a deep breath so I wouldn't giggle and opened my eyes. "So…nothing?"

Doesn't seem like it," Aoba shrugged. "Seems like you're immune to Scrap."

"What _is _Scrap?" I asked again.

"It's some weird power I have," Aoba explained. "When I was a baby I was experimented on and the result was this strange power where I can control people using my voice, and it's amplified by skin-to-skin contact. I can go into people's minds and either break them or save them. But…" Aoba looked away as if he was ashamed, "I've not been able to save anyone yet."

"That…that kind of power sounds terrifying," I admitted. "So you think Sei might have the same power?"

"I have no idea," Aoba admitted. "It could be something like Scrap, or maybe it's more something like hypnosis. Either way you seem to be immune to both which is what is currently connecting both our powers, whatever they are."

Both of us were quiet for a moment before I remembered something I'd wanted to ask him. "Are you from the Old Resident District?" Aoba nodded. "How did you get in here then?"

"My boss, Haga-san, he found Ren and I a way in," he explained.

"How come you wanted to come here?" I asked.

"Well, cause I got an invitation," Aoba confessed, holding out his Coil and showing me the invite. "And now I'm here I'm going to stop Toue from doing anything to the people back in the Old Resident District."

"Oh right…he showed them at the Plaza," I sighed. "They looked totally out of it. I wonder what happened."

"Apparently some weird music started playing that turned them all into zombies," Aoba explained. "Haga-san managed to call me and explain. He said he and my friends and my Granny were all okay cause he got them all to plug their ears before it started."

"Weird music…" I mused. "That might have been Dye-Music. It's used in some of the clubs around here along with special lights. It kind of drugs people, like a hallucinogenic. It's meant to make people relax like taking drugs would, but without any lasting damage to your body. But maybe it was used in a different way back in your home to control everyone there."

Aoba gritted his teeth. "I'm going to kill Toue. I hate him."

"I'll help you."

Aoba blinked in confusion and stared at me. "Wait, what?"

"I said I'll help you," I repeated. "I despise Toue and I'll never forgive him for what he's done to Sei. I know my way around the Tower. If you can get us in there I can guide us around."

Aoba slowly smiled and nodded. "Alright, deal," he said, holding his hand out. I grinned and shook it.

"It's been a long day and I know it's early but is it okay if I get some sleep?" I asked.

"Yeah, no problem," Aoba replied, showing me to one of the bedrooms down the hall. "I think Ren and I are going to stay up for a bit so I'll see you in the morning."

"Got it," I smiled. "Night Aoba."

"Goodnight Molly," he replied, smiling and shutting the door.

I flopped down on my bed and brought up Mom's contact information on my Coil. It only rang a couple of times before her face appeared.

"Molly? Where are you?" she asked.

"I told you, I was going to a friend's house," I replied. "Listen, I'm going to stay they night here, okay? I'll see you tomorrow evening."

"You're staying the night?" Mom frowned before looking off to the side. "Hiroshi, Molly says she's staying at a friend's house." There was mumbling for a minute as I couldn't hear what Dad was saying before Mom spoke up again. "Well I didn't think she had any friends here!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm right here Mom!" I reminded her.

Mom's head whipped back around and she looked really embarrassed. "Oh, right. Sorry honey. Um…yes of course you can stay with your friend tonight."

"Thanks Mom. I'll see you and Dad tomorrow. Night," I replied quickly before hanging up fast enough that they couldn't ask where I was or who I was with.

I hadn't brought any pyjamas or anything with me so I just took my hoodie off, took my hair down before tying it back up in a ponytail like I always did when I slept and snuggled down under the covers, hoping to get plenty of sleep since tomorrow would probably be a very busy day.

* * *

I must have been asleep for a couple of hours when I woke up to a scratching sound coming from the other side of the door. When I jumped out of bed to see what was going on I opened the door to see Ren there staring up at me.

"I apologise for waking you," he said. "May I come in? I need to speak with you."

"Of course," I replied, holding the door open for him even though I was now very confused. Shutting the door behind me again I walked back over to the bed, Ren jumping up next to me as I sat down. "What's up?" I asked.

"I greatly appreciate you helping Aoba in his mission, and I do hate to do this but I have a request for you," Ren replied. "I…I have been feeling rather out of sorts recently. It is my belief that I may have contracted some sort of virus. I cannot say with absolute confidence that I will make it to the end of Aoba's mission without malfunctioning."

I frowned. "Why don't you tell Aoba about this? Surely he'd be able to fix you?"

"Aoba has enough to worry about right now," Ren insisted. "I do not wish to be another burden for him to bear. As such I must ask you this: If I do malfunction then please make sure Aoba stays safe. Please help him complete his mission as best you can and get him back home safely if I cannot do so."

I smiled and pet Ren's head. "You really do care about Aoba a lot, don't you?" I remarked.

Ren was silent, looking down for a moment before turning his gaze back up to me. "Please promise me you'll keep Aoba safe."

I stopped petting Ren, understanding how serious he was being, and I nodded. "Okay, I promise."

"Thank you," Ren said before jumping off the bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going back to Aoba's room." I nodded and stood up to open the door for him. "Thank you," he repeated before turning to look back up at me again. "And please, don't mention this to Aoba."

I nodded again. "I won't, I promise."

Ren nodded once before padding back down the hallway to Aoba's room. I shut the door behind him and curled back up under the covers, falling into an uneasy sleep, now very worried about Ren.

My dreams that night were of Sei and I playing Connect 4 again, but this time we were free and in the Old Resident District with Aoba and Ren. We were all together and out from under Toue's rule.

We were happy.

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**AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!**

**Also, I now have a Facebook fanpage for my fanfiction! I can't post the link here because it won't work but if you search "VeryBerry96" on Facebook then you should be able to find it ^^ I'll be posting early releases and teasers and other things on there so please go check it out! Thank you!**


	9. Chapter 9 - 'Aoba'

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, this time I have a reeeeeeeeeeally good reason for why this took so long. I had placement at university PLUS I had a lot of medical stuff going on. BUT I'm on summer vacation now until September so I have no excuses not to write pretty much all the time now ^^**

**Thank you to SmileRen, Blazeingheroine and SpiedCookie126 for reviewing the last chapter!**

**Thank you for reading! Please review!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Mariko Midori, twisteddestiney, icegoddess52, Alkoi, Lunecaster, Rina Dragonfly and SilverNeira.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing except Molly and her asshole parents (they're not actually assholes, they're just kinda bad parents).**

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**Chapter 9 – "Aoba"**

I woke up the next morning having gotten nowhere near enough sleep, but I forced myself out of bed. My ponytail was half-undone but I couldn't be bothered sorting it, so I just tied my hoodie around my waist and shuffled through to where Aoba and I had spoken last night.

Aoba was already awake and staring at the TV with anger in his eyes. Ren was sitting at his feet and he gave me a small nod as I approached. I nodded back before sitting next to Aoba.

"What wrong?" I asked before I turned my attention to what he was watching.

It was the Old Resident District, and the people on the screen looked just as out of it as they had done the day before. The difference now was that they were all smiling. But even with that they didn't look happy; their mouths may have been turned up but their eyes weren't smiling.

"That bastard…" I seethed, knowing Toue was behind this without a doubt.

"…I need to try and contact my granny," Aoba muttered, pressing buttons on his Coil. He brought up his grandmother's contact information and tried to call her but it wouldn't connect. "Damn it!" he yelled, his head dropping into his hands.

"Aoba," I said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure your grandmother is alright. You said yesterday that your boss was able to warn her and your friends to cover their ears before the music started, so they'll all be fine. He'll be looking after her."

Aoba slowly looked up at me and he smiled gratefully. "Thanks Molly," he murmured.

I nodded once before looking over at the TV again. I practically growled under my breath before looking back at Aoba. "We should go. Security will be tight because of the event but we need to get into Oval Tower somehow."

Aoba nodded back. "You're right," he agreed. He stood up and looked down at Ren at his feet. "Ren, let's go!"

Ren looked like he was going to say something for a moment but after glancing at me he nodded and stood up. "…Rodger," he replied, his tail wagging slightly.

Aoba scooped Ren into his bag before pulling his coat on. I quickly fixed my hair back into twin-tails and put my hoodie on properly, leaving it unzipped, before we both shoved our shoes on and ran out of the house towards the main street.

As I'd suspected the police presence around the tower had shot up. They were practically surrounding the whole building, and there were still crowds of people like there had been yesterday.

"We're never going to get in that way," I sighed heavily.

Aoba thought for a moment before tapping on his Coil again and pulling up a map of Platinum Jail.

"Ren, is there a back entrance to the tower?" he asked, looking at the fluffy blue lump in his bag.

Ren poked his head out and looked at the map for a few seconds before nodding. "According to the map, there appears to be a staff entrance on the opposite side of the tower," he replied.

Aoba zoomed in on the map where Ren had indicated. "Around here, huh…"

"The security might be a little less tight round there," I said. "Once we're in as long as we can find an area I recognise I can get us through there."

"Alright," Aoba nodded, "let's go check it out."

* * *

We made our way round to the other side of the tower and hid in behind some trash cans to scope out the situation. As we'd hoped there were only a few guards compared to the masses out at the front, and only two in our immediate area.

"…I think I can take them if it's only them two," Aoba murmured.

"Hey," I nudged him, frowning. "I can help you know."

Aoba raised an eyebrow. "You can fight?"

"My parents have had me in judo since I was four," I smirked. "I think I'm all good."

Aoba grinned. "Alright then, one each."

"Deal," I grinned back before I froze.

My Coil had started to ring.

Aoba stared at me as the guards started to look around for the source of the sound. I swore as quietly as I could as I answered it, rolling my eyes when I saw who it was.

"What is it?!" I hissed in English as I answered the call.

"Molly dear! I just wanted to see how you were! I haven't heard from you in ages!"

"Aunt Amiee, this really isn't a good time," I whispered.

"Oh I'm sorry dear, are you busy?"

"Very busy Aunt Amiee! Can I call you back later?"

"Of course dear, bye!"

I ended to call and peaked through the gap between the trash cans. The guards had gone back to what they were doing and I sighed with relief.

"Who was that?" Aoba asked.

"My aunt from America," I replied. "She gets drunk a lot. Probably explains why she called me out of nowhere."

"Well…that was fairly random," Aoba remarked.

I laughed slightly. "Yeah, kinda. Shall we commence with the ass-kicking then?"

"Sounds like a plan," Aoba replied before we both nodded and jumped up, running towards the guards.

Neither guard was expecting it and we'd managed to hit them both in the head before they had time to do anything. Before long both guards were down.

"Well that went well," I grinned.

"Yep," Aoba agreed, swiping one of the guard's ID cards from around their neck.

"I wasn't expecting it to be over that quickly," Ren remarked.

"Doubting our abilities there are we Ren?" I asked jokingly as Aoba walked over to the door to figure out how the card worked.

"Not your abilities Molly. Aoba's on the other hand…" Ren trailed off, continuing the joke.

"I'm ignoring you Ren!" Aoba replied in a sing-song voice as the door opened up.

Ren chuckled as I grinned, and I picked up the bag with Ren in it and passed it over to Aoba before peeking through the door. There was a huge hallway which I didn't recognise but on the plus side it was empty.

"Cause I've always gone in through the main entrance I don't know exactly where we are," I confessed to Aoba, "but if we manage to avoid the guard and sneak around for a bit I'm sure I'll find somewhere I know."

Aoba nodded and we both slipped through the door, letting it close shut behind us.

"I thought people were allowed to come into Oval Tower," Aoba mused quietly. "How come nobody's here?"

"Probably because we used the back entrance," I replied. "It's like any other big important building, like castles or government places. There are parts the public can go into and parts they can't."

"But the guards could be anywhere," Ren joined in, "so be careful you two."

Aoba and I both nodded and kept glancing all around us looking for any movement.

Eventually I peered round a wall and spotted a familiar sight. It was the elevator I'd used almost every day to get to Sei's room. There were two guards standing in front of it now though so we couldn't just run into it. I turned around and reported this to Aoba and Ren.

"Is there anything we can hide behind to surprise them like we did earlier?" Aoba asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, it's all open round there. We'd have to run at them and hope for the best."

"Do you honestly think that'll work?" Aoba frowned.

I opened my mouth to reply but before I could…

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

My blood froze in my veins as I turned round to see a guard standing right behind me. He must've come out of one of the rooms in the hallway when we weren't looking. One of the guards by the elevator was now running towards us too, and I could hear more footsteps coming from further away.

Aoba swore loudly and I nodded in agreement.

"Don't move!" the first guard shouting, pointing his gun at us.

As the elevator guard approached us I could see him frowning as he looked at me. Oh crap, he recognised me. If Toue found out I was here he'd know it was for Sei!

Suddenly two very well-dressed people – a man and a woman – stepped out of the elevator. Was Toue having a party in here or something?

Aoba nudged me and I glanced up at him. He purposely looked at the elevator before looking back down at me. I got the message and nodded back.

The man who had just exited the elevator had now spotted the commotion we were causing and looked very confused.

"Three…"

Aoba's voice was so quiet only I would be able to hear it.

"Two…"

I balled my hands up into fists and prepared to make a break for it.

"One!"

Both Aoba and I pushed past the guards and sprinted towards the elevator.

"Hey, wait!" the guard called from behind us but obviously we weren't about to stop and explain ourselves.

The well-dressed couple had started to run away and the other guard was now running at us. On top of that the elevator door was starting to close. Allowing ourselves to fall down Aoba and I just barely managed to slide through the doors, crashing into each other on the other side as the door shut. Quickly whamming the highest button on the elevator I could reach from my place on the floor the elevator started to move before the guards could get the door open again. Silently praying that the guards wouldn't run up the stairs to stop us before we reached whatever floor we were not heading to I breathed a sigh of relief.

Aoba managed to stand up first and he offered me his hand to help me up. I took it, smiling gratefully before leaning against the elevator wall to get my breath back.

"Ouch…" Aoba murmured under his breath.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked, standing up properly and walking over to him.

"I think I must've hurt my shoulder sliding on the floor," he admitted, trying to roll his shoulder back and wincing with pain when he did.

"You going to be okay?" I frowned with concern.

Aoba grinned and nodded. "We're in here now, I'll be fine. Hey, I wonder if we can stick to the ceiling like in the movies and sneak around like that!"

I burst out laughing. "Well if you can do that then you've been holding out on me Aoba."

Aoba laughed too and I glanced down at Ren. He seemed awfully quiet. I remembered what he had told me back at Glitter and sighed under my breath. Maybe the virus was starting to take effect. I wished I could tell Aoba but I'd made a promise to Ren not to do that and I couldn't break it.

However Aoba seemed to have noticed something as well. He bent down to pick up Ren and looked closely at him.

"Ren, what is this? There's something stuck around your eye."

I peered over Aoba's shoulder to see what he was referring too. There were little bright pixels hovering in front of Ren's right eye. They almost looked like little droplets of water.

Ren looked down slightly and didn't say anything. When Aoba reached his hand over towards Ren's eye he moved his head away and refused to look at us.

"Ren?" Aoba frowned in confusion.

Ren once again stayed quiet.

"Look at me. What's wrong?" Aoba asked, his worry evident in his voice.

Aoba was quiet for a few moments suddenly, as if he'd remembered something, before he shook his head and looked back down at Ren.

"Ren, look me in the eye," he said, keeping his voice as calm as he could.

"You don't have time to waste on trivial matters right now, do you?" Ren finally replied, still refusing to look at Aoba.

"…Trivial matters…?" Aoba murmured.

"Yes. It's a trivial matter," Ren repeated. "From now on, you can't make something like this a priority."

"What are you saying?" Aoba asked, moving his face closer to Ren's. "I've told you this over and over. If you're not working, I'm screwed."

I bit my lip. Aoba could have worded that a bit better.

"I will put in as much effort as I can to not be a burden to you," Ren replied, snapping slightly.

"That's not what I meant!" Aoba huffed in frustration.

"If I cannot function as an Allmate, I'll just be garbage. And so I don't, I…" Ren trailed off, sounding like he was about to cry. Was that even possible for Allmates? I didn't know.

Aoba sounded really worried now. "Hey, stop that. What the hell? What are you saying?"

"If I become inefficient, I will just be trouble for you, Aoba. And for Molly too," he added me on at the end as if he'd just remembered I was there.

Aoba glanced over at me before turning his attention back to Ren. "That's not true. I'm not saying that. I'm genuinely concerned about you."

Ren looked down again slightly, still not looking towards us. "It's fine. I don't want to cause you any trouble."

"I never said anything like that!" Aoba cried. "Ren, listen to me."

"Please don't mind me," Ren replied.

"You…" Aoba started to grumble. "Enough with that! What's happened to you? Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

I held myself back from interrupting. I got it now. This wasn't Ren's virus talking, it was Ren himself. He knew soon enough that he may become ineffective and he was trying to prepare Aoba for that but without worrying him. He knew that if he told Aoba straight out that he had a virus that Aoba would do whatever it took to repair him, and Ren didn't want Aoba stopping his mission for him. It was so sad… But one thing I'd been taught ever since I was a child was that you never ever break a promise. I couldn't tell Aoba, and I hated that. If Aoba found out that I'd known all this time and hadn't said anything he would hate me too.

Before anyone could say anything else the elevator came to a stop. As soon as the doors opened Ren scrambled out of Aoba's arms and ran out of the door.

"Hey, Ren!" Aoba cried, not moving for a second out of confusion.

I grabbed his arm. "Hey! We need to go after him, come on!"

Aoba looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Yeah…yes of course. Come on!"

Aoba and I both dashed out of the elevator following Ren. I knew we weren't on Sei's floor but I kept an eye out for anything that looked familiar. We needed to get Ren back first.

Ren ran into a large hallway that very nicely dressed people were all milling into. Knowing we looked incredibly out of place we bolted after the little blue fluff-ball and began calling his name out. Some people did glance over at us but most of them ignored us. I kept an eye out for Toue, Sei, or even those blonde guys I'd met before, Virus and Trip, whilst running around and looking for Ren. It was an Oval Tower party; chances are I'd find one of them.

Suddenly I heard a grunt behind me and a loud thud. I whirled around to see Aoba on the floor holding his head in his hands.

"Aoba!" I cried, dropping down on the floor next to him. "Did you bring your medicine with you?"

Aoba wasn't responding. I don't think he could hear me, but I wasn't about to leave him lying there on the floor so making sure I kept looking around for any sign of Ren I stayed there next to him, gently rubbing his back and talking quietly, hoping eventually he'd be able to hear me and respond.

"…Shut up!"

Aoba's sudden cry surprised me, but somehow I knew it wasn't aimed at me. I had no idea who he was talking to however as nobody else was near us. I slowly started to remember that Aoba told me about his power to go into people's heads. Maybe it had something to do with that. Regardless, I was going to stay with him until he was better.

Suddenly he screamed it again. "Shut up!"

This time the guests in the room turned and stared at us. I glared up at them before turned my attention back to Aoba.

Then out of nowhere his eyes snapped open and he sat up.

"M…Molly?" he murmured, his eyes eventually managing to lock with mine.

"Yeah, it's me," I smiled. "Are you alright?"

"I… I'm not sure honestly," he mumbled. "I thought I saw… Never mind."

"No, what was it?" I asked. "You can tell me Aoba."

"Well…" Aoba stammered. "I thought I saw…me. Like another me walking around. Then my head started to pound and someone started speaking to me. Asking why _he _was precious to me."

"_He_?" I frowned. "You mean the voice?"

Aoba shook his head. "No… I think it meant Ren."

Before I could respond there was a loud clattered behind us and a group of guards burst into the room. The spotted us and cried out, "There they are!"

"Crap," I muttered before jumping up. "Can you stand?" I asked Aoba.

"I think so," Aoba replied, managing to get up on his feet and nodding to me. I nodded back before beginning to run through the crowd, just hoping that Aoba was behind me.

Suddenly I saw a lump of blue fur weaving in and out of the crowds. "There!" I cried, pointing at it.

"I saw him!" Aoba's voice behind me replied, confirming that he was keeping up.

Following Ren and managing to outrun the guards wasn't easy, and suddenly we found ourselves face-to-face with a wall of guards.

"That damn dog is fast," one of them muttered before kicking Ren towards us.

"Ren!" Aoba cried out, running to pick him up.

"Bastards…" I hissed at the guards before running towards Ren and Aoba myself.

By the time we'd reached Ren and he was in Aoba's arms the guards had surrounded us, all their guns pointed at our heads.

"Wait!" said the guard who had kicked Ren. "The order is to capture them alive. Don't use guns."

With that reminder the guards put their guns away and started to restrain us instead. Both Aoba and I tried to resist but we were outnumbered and didn't have the element of surprise on our side like last time. I could see Aoba trying to shield Ren as he sunk down to the floor. I tried to pull away from the guards and get to them but I couldn't.

Then Aoba cried out in pain again, just like he had done a few minutes ago. It must've been his headaches again. Had he seen the person who looked like himself again? What was going on?

Suddenly Aoba stopped moving altogether and my stomach dropped. Was he…? No, he couldn't be…

"Don't touch me."

When Aoba spoke again my first reaction was relief, but it was short lived. That didn't sound like Aoba. That wasn't Aoba.

"What?" the guard holding him down asked.

"Don't touch me. Let go."

The guard suddenly sprang up, letting go of Aoba completely. "Y…yes…s-"

"Hey!" the guard holding me down called out in confusion.

Aoba raised his head to look at that guard too, and I could see a coldness in his eyes that had never been there before. I was right, this wasn't Aoba.

"You too, let go of the girl."

Just like with "Aoba's" guard, mine stood up immediately and let me go.

"…Yes…"

Standing up "Aoba" looked at each of the guards in turn. "Listen. Everyone here will forget about us."

All of the guards nodded in agreement as I sprang up and stood behind "Aoba". This was weird as hell but if this guy could get us out of this situation then everything could be explained later.

Suddenly all the guards and guests all collapsed to the ground. I screamed in shock before "Aoba" slipped his hand over my mouth.

"Shut it," he said softly. "My power only affected the people in this room. If anyone outside comes running in I'm not going to help you."

I glared at "Aoba" but I nodded to let him know I wasn't going to scream again and he let me go.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked quietly.

"Aoba" smirked. "So you noticed."

"It's pretty obviously," I glared. "You're nothing like Aoba. Aoba wouldn't make people just collapse out of nowhere or take control of their free will."

"That's because that idiot doesn't embrace his power, whereas I do," he smiled. "Although I must admit, you are a strange one. I've never met anyone immune to my power before,"

I shrugged. "I don't know how it works any more than you do."

"Aoba" smiled slightly. "I suppose that's true." Looking around at the carnage he'd created he smiled wider before looking back down at me. "I suppose I'd better let the twerp back out now. He's having a pretty bad dream. Might want to keep this little conversation to ourselves though girl."

"Aoba" winked at me before grabbing my chin and bringing his face very close to mine. I blushed slightly before shoving him away. "Back off, creep," I snarled at him.

"Aoba" laughed again before closing his eyes almost as soon as he did his body collapsed to the ground. I stayed back just in case he came back instead of the real Aoba.

Who the hell was that? I knew it wasn't Aoba, but who was it?

Did…did Aoba have somebody else inside of him?

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**AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!**

**For early updates and other extras please check out my Facebook page! Just search "VeryBerry96".**


	10. Chapter 10 - Desire

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE.**

**Woooooooooo I have so missed this story! I hope this chapter makes up for the wait!**

**Thank you to Smile Ren, SilverNeira and the three guests for reviewing the last chapter!**

**This chapter is dedicated to CalicoKitty402 and Varriel.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own DMMD, I do own Molly.**

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**Chapter 10 - Desire**

Nobody in the room was moving. Aoba was still unconscious on the ground alongside everyone else, Ren collapsed on the other side of the room. It was deathly quiet and I could hear my own heartbeat thudding in my ear.

I was still staring down at Aoba's body in fear that the other version might awaken instead of the Aoba I knew. What had that been all about? I'd heard about Multiple Personality Disorder before but I'd never thought I would meet somebody with it in real life. It had been terrifying seeing him take control of the guards like that and although I was somewhat grateful since that was probably the only reason we hadn't been captured, it was still scary as hell. I was suddenly very grateful for the strange immunity I seemed to have against his power.

After a while I allowed myself to sit down on an empty chair next to Aoba. I stared up at the ceiling and sighed heavily. Was Sei still up there on the top floor somewhere? Was he safe? If it turned out that Toue had hurt him… I clenched my hand into a fist. I'd kill him. If anyone hurt Sei, they'd be dead. Sei meant more to me than I would probably ever admit…and I needed to reach him.

All of a sudden Aoba lurched awake, coughing and spluttering. I stayed where I was for a second until his gaze whirled around and his eyes met with mine. He looked terrified and confused. It was the real Aoba.

"M…Molly?" his voice shook as I slipped off the chair and onto the floor so I was next to him. "What…what happened?"

"You…" I started before I remembered what the other Aoba had said to me.

"_Might want to keep this little conversation to ourselves though girl."_

I bit my lip. For some reason I felt like I shouldn't tell Aoba. If he wasn't aware that he even had another personality inside of him then this would truly freak him out and we wouldn't get anywhere. I couldn't take that risk.

"…You passed out," I said, somewhat truthfully. "Everyone else collapsed too, apart from me. I don't know what happened."

Aoba clutched his head as he slowly looked around the room, taking in the scene around him of all the extravagant guests lying unconscious around us. He grimaced a few times and groaned, his headache probably still pounding away. Then his gaze fell on the small bundle of fur we had ran in here after.

"Ren!" he cried, jumping up and running over, his headache forgotten when he saw his AllMate. I ran after him, hoping that Ren was okay. Aoba picked him and shook him gently. "Hey! Ren! Are you okay!? Ren!"

Aoba pressed his hand to Ren's tiny forehead to try and start him up, but it didn't work. He grunted and tried again, and again, and again, but no matter how many times he tried, it didn't work. I felt my heart sink. Ren had warned me that he didn't think he was working properly and that he had a virus, but I'd hoped it wasn't actually true. But…maybe this was it. Maybe Ren had shut down completely…

I rested my hand on Aoba's shoulder as I heard him begin to sob softly. "…This can't be true," he muttered under his breath.

"Aoba…" I said softly, "…there isn't much we can do here. Once we get out of here, maybe we can find a way to fix him. But…but if we stay here for much longer then the guards are going to find us."

Aoba choked down another sob and nodded slowly, carefully putting Ren into his bag. When he stood up and looked around at me his face was deathly pale but he took a deep breath and nodded to me before looking around for a way out. He spotted a door at the other side of the room from where we entered and we both headed towards it.

Behind the door was a staircase and without a word passing between us we began to climb up it. After walked up a few floors Aoba stopped and grimaced again, clutching his head and actually swaying from side to side.

"Aoba!" I cried with worry, quickly pulling him up the last few stairs before helping him lean against a wall. He sunk down to the floor, his head in his hands.

"I…I'm sorry," he panted. "I just…"

"Aoba, it's fine," I tried to reassure him, sitting down next to him. "Just take it easy."

Aoba tried to nod but he just cried out in pain again. Taking the initiative I started rummaging through his bag, careful to not knock Ren too much, and eventually found his medication. Hoping that three would be alright I grabbed Aoba's hand and dropped three pills onto it. He quickly threw them back, dry-swallowing them. Sweat was pouring down his forehead as he leant his head back against the wall, eyes closed, waiting for the medication to kick in.

After a few minutes of taking deep breaths, Aoba's body started to relax. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly. "Thanks Molly," he murmured.

I smiled back, relieved that he was feeling better and that the other Aoba didn't pop back out. "It's no problem. I'm just glad you're feeling better."

As I opened his bag again to put his pills back in, Aoba reached in and pulled Ren out. Setting him down on his lap he tried to start him up again, but it still didn't work.

"Why won't he wake up…?" Aoba murmured, beginning to look completely defeated.

"Why don't you check your Coil?" I suggested. "You'll have a control panel for Ren on there, right?"

Aoba nodded slowly before pressing a few buttons on his Coil. Sure enough Ren's control panel appeared but it was covered in error messages.

"He can't operate at all like this…" Aoba sounded like he was going to cry. "Ren…"

Aoba closed his Coil down and held Ren's tiny body close to his, tears beginning to leak from his eyes. Not knowing what else to do I sat up and wrapped my arms around Aoba, hugging him as best I could.

"I'm so sorry Aoba…" I whispered sincerely.

After a few moments Aoba leaned into the hug, still crying.

"He…he's a really old model," Aoba managed to say in between sobs. "His parts aren't even made anymore. I've always taken him for granted but now…"

"Hey," I murmured softly, holding him tighter. "Don't give up hope. Ren's your partner, right? He's your best friend. You'll be able to fix him, I know it. Trust me. He's going to be fine. We just need to keep pushing forward."

A small laugh escaped Aoba as he sat up and looked at me, his eyes red from the tears. "Keep pushing forward… My Granny said that to me once."

I smiled softly back at him. "Well, I think she's right. We came here to do a job, right?"

Aoba nodded. "Stop Toue, save everyone in the Old Resident District, and save Sei."

I nodded back, grateful that he included saving Sei in that. "I can't imagine how much this hurt you Aoba, but because of those three things we're here to do, we can't stay at a standstill."

"You're right," Aoba replied, taking a deep breath before putting Ren back in his back and trying to stand up by pushing himself up against the wall. I jumped up quickly and helped him, allowing him to lean some of his weight on me. As he did Aoba grimaced.

"Your headache still there?" I asked, gnawing at my lip with worry.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter," Aoba replied, determination laced into his voice. "Come on, let's go."

I nodded once, and we continued to walk up the stairs together. After a little while of me helping him we came to a door.

"…No way we're already at the top floor…?" I mumbled.

Aoba frowned before pulling out the security pass he'd swiped off the guard early when we first entered Oval Tower and put it up to the panel next to the wall. The door slid open and behind it was a long pale blue corridor. It was completely different to the gaudiness of the party room we'd left behind us.

Having no idea where we were we turned to our right and just started walking. Aoba was still grimacing and clutching his head. I opened my mouth to ask him if he wanted to rest again but before I could get the words out he shook his head.

"We can't stop," he mumbled. "The guards might still be coming after us."

I huffed at his stubbornness but I knew he was right. But before I could agree with him he had reached into his bag, pulled out his case of pills and poured the entire contents into his mouth.

"Aoba!" I screeched, causing him to wince. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Somehow managing to swallow them all down he looked at me with frustration in his eyes. "I know I shouldn't but I just want the pain to stop. It hurts so much Molly…"

I sighed heavily, but there wasn't anything I could do now. He'd swallowed them all. I'd just need to keep a really close eye on him and pray that nothing happened.

"Come on, we need to keep moving," he insisted, pulling himself along the wall.

But right at that moment there was the unmistakable sound behind us of a door opening.

"Shit," I swore under my breath as two men in white coats emerged and stopped short when they saw us.

"Who are they?" one asked the other, looking nervous.

"…Trespassers?" the second man replied, glaring at us. "Call security, quickly!"

I glared right back at them. Clearly there was something up here they didn't want us to see…but with one look at Aoba I knew that fighting them wasn't an option. These two men, I could probably take myself, but if they did call security and more guards showed up I'd be screwed, and Aoba was in no condition to fight.

As the two men started to walk towards us I put myself between them and Aoba on reflex, but I began to panic slightly when Aoba loudly cried out and clutched at his head again.

And then his body went completely still.

I felt my heartbeat speed up monumentally in fear. I'd seen this happen before…

Shit.

"Aoba" stood up straight again and looked right at the men advancing towards us.

"You there. Don't move."

And just like that the men stopped where they were, unable to move a muscle.

I clenched my fists but against my better judgement I moved out of the way so instead of standing in front of "Aoba" I was standing behind him.

"Don't get in our way," he now said to the men in the lab coats.

"What the hell are you?!" one of them cried out.

"Aoba" didn't answer them and instead just smirked. "It's your unlucky day," he said slowly. "I'll free you from your 'life' now. I'll break it apart… I'll smash your memories, senses, everything to bits."

The men's eyes widened in fear and they began to scream. Immediately regretting standing beside him I grabbed "Aoba's" arm. "Stop it! You'll kill them!"

"Aoba" looked away from the men and to me, but their screams didn't stop. "And why shouldn't I?" he asked calmly. "If I don't then they'll kill both of us. Or they'll try at least."

I glared up at him. "Just restrain them and we can run away. Aoba wouldn't want this."

Mentioning that name seem to make him snap and he began to quickly walk towards me. I backed away but soon my back hit the wall of the corridor and "Aoba" slammed his hands on the wall on either side of my head so I couldn't get away.

"Well _I _am not Aoba," he growled, his face mere inches away from mine. "And you damn well know that, girl."

I could feel myself shaking but I forced it not to show in my voice. "…Then who are you?" I asked quietly, keeping my eyes locked with his piercing golden ones.

"Aoba" smirked slightly, but he didn't move his arms. "I am Aoba's desire," he said, his voice much quieter and lower than before. "I am his deepest and most well-hidden emotions. I'm his yearning to use his power to destroy everything around him and control everybody to do his ever wish."

I shook my head slowly. "…That isn't Aoba," I murmured. "He would never want to do that."

"You've known him less than a full day and you think you have the right to say that with so much certainty?" he sighed. "You are a fool, girl. It's a pity that my power doesn't work on you." As he said that he lifted one of his hands up off of the wall and towards my face. I flinched, at first thinking he was going to hit me but all he did was use it to tilt my head up so now our faces were so close our noses were nearly touching. "You would've made a beautiful broken doll…" he whispered.

My heartbeat sped up even more but I took advantage of the fact that he'd moved one of his arms away from the wall and I slipped away from him, moving a few steps backwards but still facing him so he couldn't sneak up on me. He sighed heavily once again and shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he turned around to look at me. "You're really pissing me off girl."

"Good, I don't exactly want you to like me," I snapped back. "Now bring Aoba back."

He chuckled under his breath. "And why exactly would I do that?"

"Because he'll come back eventually anyway," I said, choosing my words carefully. "You're weak. You might be able to take over him when he's hurt or in danger, but he always comes back. If you were able to stay in control of him then you'd never have let him back out the first time I met you, but you did because despite what you say, he is stronger than you and he can always get back. If you stay here and then Aoba suddenly snapped back in the middle of a fight, he'd be killed. Which would mean you would be dead too. So unless you want that, bring him back."

Aoba's desire seemed to consider this before he shrugged. "Looks like you're not so stupid after all girl," he smirked before he walked past me and over to the two men who had spotted us. I followed him and gasped slightly at the state they were in. Their eyes were blown wide open and they were foaming at their mouths.

Aoba's desire laughed cruelly at my reaction. "Well you did tell me not to kill them."

I whirled around and glared at him. "What did you do!?" I screamed.

"Simple really. I've broken their minds," he smiled. "They are alive, but they might as well be dead. They'll never be able to function properly again. So really, you should have let me kill them. Or…" I didn't realise he had snuck behind me and he once again pushed me against the nearest wall, this time with my back to him, "maybe _you_ should kill them. It would be an act of mercy really."

I gritted my teeth as he spun me around so I was once again facing him, and this time he pinned my arms at my side. Nevertheless I continued to glower at him. "No," I hissed. "I would never kill anybody. I couldn't. I could never take somebody else's life."

"…Pathetic," he murmured before all of a sudden he pulled me towards him and forcibly pushed his lips against mine. Screaming at the shock of it I instinctively shoved my knee up to his groin. He groaned at the surprise pain and dropped me, and I ran around the nearest corner, leaning against the wall to get my breath back.

"Well at least you're not exactly my type, or else you would be dead by now," he said as he followed me round the corner.

"Look, just cut it out," I panted, still out of breath from the confusion of what had just happened. "I don't have time for any more of your bullshit, alright? I need to get to Sei so just hurry up and let Aoba out."

Desire raised an eyebrow at that. "…Sei? Why does he matter so much to you anyway?"

That question caught me off guard as I hadn't even really thought about it myself. My mind automatically went back to the hours Sei and I spent playing together in his room and how he'd slowly come to trust me. My heart began to speed up again, but in a very different way this time.

Slowly looking back up at Desire I simply replied, "I don't owe you an answer to that question."

I expected him to be angered by my response but he just chuckled slightly. "Guess you're right. You're lucky I don't actually care all that much." He stretched a bit before exhaling sharply. "Ah well. Better let the weakling out again. Maybe I'll see you again soon girl."

"I sincerely hope not," I replied shortly.

Smirking for one last time, Desire looked back at the two men on the ground behind us before look back at me. "But this time I don't think you can keep this just between us girl," he winked. "Careful, the news of what he just did might finally break him for good."

Closing his eyes, Aoba's body slumped over slightly for a few seconds before his eyes flew wide open once again. Aoba looked around in a panic before locking eyes with me.

"Molly…I'm so so so sorry. Oh my God, I am so sorry."

I relaxed as I realised it truly was Aoba but then I realised what he was saying. "Wait…you knew what was happening?"

"I…I could see it," I stammered. "I could see what I was doing. That I broke those men…but I couldn't stop it. I couldn't control my own body…"

Aoba clutched at his head and began to scream. He was in agony, both physically and mentally, and I could do nothing except hold him closely and pray that he was going to be okay.

Suddenly Aoba froze completely. At first I thought Desire was coming back but then Aoba shook his head. "N…No…you're wrong…" he mumbled.

"Aoba?" I frowned. "What's going on?"

"H…he's speaking to me…" he spluttered out, his eyes squeezed shut. "He's saying it's my fault…because I wouldn't accept my powers…"

"He's lying Aoba," I said immediately, tightening my grip on his shoulders. "Don't listen to him!"

Aoba went very still again for a moment before he began to shake. Then suddenly he screamed out, "Shut up!" After a few seconds of silence he spoke again. "You…who are you?"

I had no idea what Desire was saying to Aoba but soon enough Aoba replied with, "…Don't fuck with me. I'm me!"

He was silent again for a while long this time before he began to scream once more. "Shut up… Shut up… Shut up! Be quiet! Disappear! Disappear! …Disappear!"

Suddenly Aoba's eyes snapped open and he began to pant for breath.

"M…Molly?" he mumbled weakly.

"I'm right here Aoba," I promised, holding him steady so he wouldn't collapse. Once Aoba's breathing had more or less returned to normal I asked him the all important question. "…What did he say to you?"

"He…" Aoba started, "…he wanted me to switch places with him. Permanently. He said I don't even know who or what I am, but he does so he should live in my place. He mentioned a power…and I'm guessing he meant Scrap."

"So…Scrap is his power?" I concluded.

Aoba nodded. "If he ever took over my body…he could do whatever he pleased with Scrap. I…I can't let that happen. I can't use Scrap anymore; that's when it's easiest for him to take over me."

I nodded slowly. "I'm with you Aoba. I promise, no matter what happens, I'll try and protect you."

He smiled weakly and nodded back. "Thank you Molly. You're a good friend." He blushed slightly and looked down. "I…I'm so sorry about what he did to you."

I knew exactly what he was talking about and I chuckled nervously. "Well…as long as _you_ don't do that too then we're fine, promise."

Aoba smiled properly this time as he got to his feet, holding his hand out for me.

"You seem like you're feeling better," I commented as he helped me up.

"The headache's gone…but I wouldn't exactly say I'm feeling better," he said, looking back down at the two men on the floor with so much regret and sorrow in his eyes.

I swallowed heavily before I tugged gently on his arm. "Come on, let's go in here," I pointed at the door the two men had walked out of. "Whatever was in here they clearly didn't want us to see."

Aoba nodded and with one last look at the bodies on the floor we walked into the next room.

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**AN: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I am so freaking excited for the next one! Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11 - Brothers

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not sure how to feel about this chapter cause a lot of it is just Molly listening into conversations, so it may be a bit boring. I'm really sorry if it is!**

**Thank you to SilverNeira, SmileRen, poppykiller and the anonymous guest reviewer.**

**This chapter is dedicated to tablespoon of crazy, olivia rodriguez 927, RedFireCandy and MisayaMikoto.**

**DISCLAIMER: I only own Molly (although Sei is my precious baby and I will protect him until the end of time)**

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**Chapter 11 - Brothers**

_..._

_You…you didn't leave me…?_

_You've come back…_

_I…I won't let anyone know you're here…Molly…_

_I'll hide you from them…_

_Please…come quickly…with Nii-san._

_Come…and destroy me…_

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As the door the two men had come through opened up in front of us, I felt Aoba hesitate. I completely understood his unease as I looked into the dim room, lit only by strange machines whirling within it. It felt as though something – or someone – was watching us. But after locking eyes with each other and nodding with as much confidence as we could muster we both stepped into the room.

The room was eerily silent except for the faint sound of liquid bubbling about in the large orange water tanks which were lined up right down the room. Each of them held a different strange looking specimen. Some looked like humans, others like animals covered in eyes and one just looked like a clump of hair. But the disturbing part was that they were all breathing. They were alive.

Standing in front of one that looked like a pure white mermaid I placed my hand gently on the glass as Aoba stood next to me. "I…I can't believe anyone would do this…" I murmured. "These poor things…"

The mermaid seemed to hear me as it turned around and its eyes widened. Suddenly it pounded its hand again the glass causing both of us to jump back and its mouth began to open and close as if it was trying to speak to us.

Suddenly I felt a shiver run up my spine and both Aoba and I turned to look at the rest of the tanks at the same time. All of the specimens were now staring right at us.

"_You…really…came…"_

My eyes shot to meet Aoba's. He looked as shocked as I felt. He could hear that faint voice too. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, or who it was. I didn't think I'd heard the voice before, but for some reason it made my heart break from how sad it sounded.

"_I was…waiting…always…"_

"_Hurry…to…me…"_

"_Destroy…me…"_

"_With your power…"_

"_I'm sorry…M…Molly…"_

I stepped back slightly in shock at hearing the voice speak my name. Who the hell was it?

Wait…could it be…?

But before I could say anything Aoba cried out next to me. Whirling around I saw him doubled over in pain, having been punch by a dark figure wearing all black.

As my eyes adjusted I realised that a large group of men in black jeans and hoodies must have entered the room while we were distracted. They're eyes had no life in them, but I recognised the pink and white design they all had on their hoodies. It was the same as the pin on Sei's hat, and the pins Virus and Trip had.

Aoba tried to run but two of the figures grabbed him and held him down on the ground.

"Molly! Run!" he cried out to me.

I didn't want to leave him, but I knew there was no way I could fight all of them myself. So listening to Aoba I turned and bolted, ducking behind one of the water tanks at the far end of the room. Strangely enough nobody followed me, and when I peeked around the tank I saw all of the men had their gazed fixed on Aoba as if I wasn't even there.

I heard footsteps behind me and I curled up in as small a ball as I could manage, holding my breath and silently praying that whoever it was wasn't heading towards me. However the footsteps moved past me and continued to move towards Aoba. Peeking around the tank again my eyes widened as I realised who it was.

Virus and Trip.

"Yo, so you made it all the way in here by yourself. Well, of course you would, Aoba-san," Virus smiled.

"We'd expect nothing less," Trip added.

I watched Aoba's face, and from his shock it was clear that he knew the two of them. But it didn't seem like they knew I was here. That was strange…surely if they'd seen Aoba on security footage – which I assume they had – they'd have seen me too…

"You two…" Aoba practically hissed, looking up at them in contempt.

"You're asking yourself why we're here, aren't you?" Virus asked, tilting his head slightly. "That's what your face says. Shall I tell you? It's quite simple. The reason is…because we're part of Morphine."

"Right?" Trip grinned, sounding proud of himself.

"Morphine…?" Aoba gasped.

I frowned, remembering Aoba telling me about Morphine briefly when we'd been walking to Oval Tower only a few hours before. They were an incredibly strong Rib team who had apparently been taking out other teams which were never heard from again. Their tag must've been that heart with the wings I'd seen on the hoodies of those men and on the blonde's pins.

Wait…if that was their tag…why did Sei have a pin of it? Was he part of Morphine? No…that didn't make any sense…

"Well, we are part of it, but we don't do the dirty work like the rest do," Virus explained. "We're more like the leaders."

"…You were deceiving me," Aoba glared at them both.

"We never had any intention of doing so," Virus replied. "Although, if that's what you believe, it still doesn't change anything."

"In truth, we truly are your fans, Aoba," Trip seemed to be trying to reassure him.

I frowned again. His fans? What were they talking about?

"Well, we're indifferent," Virus said. "It's useless to talk this over. More importantly, you've gotten into something big. Even if I say that, that person… We used to be part of Sei-san's group."

My blood ran cold and I swore my heart stopped.

Sei…?

Wait, what?!

It took every ounce of self-control I had not to run at Virus and scream at him. What the hell were they talking about?!

Aoba's eyes flickered to my hiding place for a split second before he looked back up at Virus. "A part of Sei's group? By Sei, you mean the person that was with Toue at the event…"

"…Aoba-san. You don't have any knowledge of what happened once you were born, do you?" Virus asked.

What the hell was he talking about _now_?! What was with that change of subject?! I felt desperate tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. Where the hell was Sei? I needed to get to him…

Aoba wasn't answering Virus, whom I heard chuckle slightly. "You don't. Well, you did make it all the way here, so let's talk a little. At the end of Toue's long research initiative, he had finally gotten his hands on the ultimate power… He gets his power from Sei-san."

My hands clenched into fists. I already knew Toue was using Sei, but hearing Virus actually say it made my blood boil.

"You're the same as Sei-san, something born out of Toue Inc.'s research, their property," Virus continued. "A child with specific genetic engineering."

Wait... Aoba had been a designer baby? That was how he had his power?

But…if Sei was the same then…

"And Sei-san is your older brother. You two are fraternal twins."

I froze.

Aoba…and Sei…were twins…?

I felt a million things come rushing into my head at once. Both Sei and Aoba had the power of Scrap, even if they were slightly different, and neither of their powers worked on me. What were the chances that I would meet Sei's brother, let alone help him break into Oval Tower? Was this what destiny was? Or…had Sei somehow lead me to his brother?

From the choked gasp that Aoba let out, all of this was news to him too. His face turned pale, his eyes blown wide with shock.

"The founder of the theory on what your special abilities were based on was a product of your grandmother's research," Virus spoke again. "It seemed like she had not the slightest idea that her research was for engineering a certain child. It was a neural research on the outside. You two twins were designed to have the power to control peoples' wills by nature. But life is a miracle, and the amount of minute detail and calculations that went into your births were limitless. You two were entrusted with unique powers, and both of you also had no pigment when you were born. Furthermore, both your and Sei-san's hair was connected. They also had nerves in them. The sense in your hair must be the remnants of that."

…Aoba had sensation in his hair? I didn't know that…

Virus continued his explanation. "It was a hereditary abnormality, and you were products that were cultivated. And by bad luck, you two had died just as you were born. When Sei-san's hair was severed, his breathing returned, but yours hadn't. Your grandmother was absolutely horrified that a child that had just been born had died because of her research. And so, she took your corpse away from the research facility. She may have thought of giving you a funeral like a normal human being. And despite it all, you came back to life on the way. You had revived. Your grandmother…she must've been both astonished and overjoyed. Probably because she had been the one who had killed you. She took you to her hometown on this island and left you to the church. Why did she do that? To end it all? This is my guess, but…she was a researcher, somehow or another. No matter how much she loved you, no matter how she raised you, she still couldn't help to see you as a research subject. She would have not been able to forgive herself. And after that, as your skin gained pigment and was the exact same as a human's, you grew up quickly, shut up in your little world. But amazingly, you two siblings kept your powers. You with your voice, and Sei-san with his eyes, you can hold peoples' hearts captive. You hold a power that a mediocre human could never dream of obtaining. Surely, gifts from God."

Aoba looked angry now, and knowing how much he hated having the power of Scrap I could understand why.

"Now that you know, is there anything you'd like to ask?" Virus enquired.

"…You're lying," Aoba muttered under his breath, not really sounding like he believed what he was saying.

"Do you think so? It was all pertaining to you, and I don't care much if you don't think so," Virus shrugged. "All I spoke of was of what I know as truth."

Aoba was silent for a few moments, presumably trying to process all the information he'd been given, before he slowly raised his gaze back up to meet Virus'. "…You two stayed with me for all that time knowing this?"

Virus shook his head. "That's incorrect."

"Incorrect," Trip repeated, speaking for the first time in a while.

"I had said this earlier, but the fact that we're your fans isn't a lie," Virus explained.

"You were quite striking as you fought in Rhyme as an entertaining psycho," Trip grinned.

Psycho? Aoba? No…his Desire maybe but not…

Oh…wait…

Shit.

"Yeah, yeah," Virus nodded in agreement. "When you used Scrap on your opponent in Rhyme, that was when we became aware of it. We realised you were a really amazing person. So we investigated a little and put it all together. We were surprised to find that Aoba-san was a person who had the same potential that Sei-san did. But you weren't self-aware of it in the least. There was a danger that you'd unknowingly go on rampages. It would've been troublesome if someone other than us noticed as well. So we made it so that you'd forget about Rhyme. Not exactly Rhyme, but what accidents you'd leave behind after your little brawls. If I were to speak for Morphine, it's an elite force prepared for manipulating human nature. Erasing memories is a trivial thing. Well, when our control was a little too loose and we were too visible, we famously 'disappeared'. So the ones who erased the memories of your past with Rhyme were us. We're very sorry."

I rolled my eyes. He didn't sound sorry in the least.

"But Toue had Sei-san," Virus grinned, "so we thought it'd be all right if we kept Aoba-san our little secret. Well, in the end Toue found you anyway. Now, would you come with us, Aoba-san? You can see Sei-san as well."

I tensed up. They…would take Aoba to see Sei? Or…were they just saying that to tempt him?

"…Has Sei been with Toue this entire time?"

I heard a venom in Aoba's voice I'd only ever heard when Desire took over him. But this wasn't Desire. This was Aoba. This was Aoba incredibly angry because he'd just discovered that his twin brother – his own flesh and blood – had probably been tortured for his entire life.

"That's right," Virus replied. "Although he doesn't have much energy to keep on living anymore."

…What…?

"Sei-san has had his consciousness continually analysed since he was a child," Virus said. "The time he can keep himself moving is very short. And because of that, his heart is weak as well. He's at his limit. Toue has been calling your grandmother to keep Sei-san alive longer. He even contacted a young woman who lives here in Platinum Jail to see if her company could help keep him with us. But the luminescence equipment developed to model Sei-san's eyes has been completed. So in the worst case, we'll be all right even if Sei-san is gone."

Those bastards…! They didn't even care if Sei died! As long as they had the power of his eyes so they could control everybody they didn't care!

"…Luminescence equipment?" Aoba frowned.

"It produces the different signals that are in Sei-san's unique vision," Virus replied. "Once it's been studied and a large scale of them are released, a number of people will be able to replicate the same results. Well, Sei-san is a human with the power naturally in him, so we'd rather not lose him if we could. But even if we do lose him, there'd be no more reason to worry. Because now we have you, Aoba-san."

I shuddered, as did Aoba.

"So if you have no further questions…we're very sorry, but we'll be taking you," Virus once again smiled, not sounding sorry at all.

Virus and Trip turned back towards where I was hiding and I curled myself up into a ball. If I could just stay hidden…maybe I could surprise them and get Aoba to safety.

"Let me go!" Aoba cried, as it sounded like he was being dragged across the floor, presumably by the men in the black hoodies.

"Please be obedient," Virus smirked, Trip remaining silent at his side.

"…Why are you guys working for someone like Toue?!" Aoba practically screamed.

"Us?" Virus asked, sounding genuinely surprised at the question. "If I were to answer, well… We like interesting things. And very fun things."

"Yeah, yeah," Trip agreed cheerily.

"We have no interest in Toue's ideas. The reason we're here is because Sei-san is an amazing person, and we can relax while at Toue's side," Virus continued. "And that's it."

"That's it," Trip repeated.

I genuinely couldn't tell if it was better or worse that they were doing all this without having any interest in Toue, but they sounded completely insane.

Aoba however, seemed to find it worse.

"That's not funny! Don't fuck with me!" Aoba screamed.

Virus chucked. "You're quite persistent. Could you stay quiet for us?" He was silent for a moment before I heard him quietly say, "Do it." After the sound of some punches and Aoba grunting, Virus spoke again. "Just enough so he doesn't die."

I gasped quietly. They were going to beat him until he passed out…then who knew what they'd do to him?!

Suddenly my thought flew to Desire. If Aoba tried to use Scrap on those men beating him…Desire would come back and Aoba would be gone forever. I squeezed my eyes shut and silently prayed that Aoba wouldn't succumb to the temptation to use his power.

The more I heard Aoba crying out in pain the angrier I became. He'd told me to hide…but he was my friend. I'd made a promise to Ren that I would keep him safe. And now…now I knew he was Sei's brother. I couldn't leave him to be beaten by these psychopaths.

Taking a deep breath and steeling myself for whatever may come, I jumped to my feet and ran out from behind the water tank. Aoba was lying at Virus and Trip's feet, his eyes already closed over and blood dripping from his mouth.

"Get away from him!" I screamed.

Virus and Trip both whirled around, looking genuinely surprised. "Molly-san?" Virus frowned. "How…did you get in here?"

"I came in with Aoba," I glared at them. "I'm here to rescue Sei. I won't let you hurt him anymore!"

"You came in…with Aoba?" Trip looked at Virus in confusion. "Hey, she wasn't on the security footage."

"I know…but there was always part of the screen next to Aoba which was pixilated so we couldn't see properly," Virus murmured, keeping his eyes locked on me. "That…must have been Molly-san."

I tried not to visibly react, but I didn't understand what they were saying. Somehow…I'd been hidden on the security cameras? How was that even possible?

"How is that even possible?" Trip asked.

"Perhaps…Sei-san-" Virus began to answer.

But a loud cry behind them interrupted him.

"Aoba!"

"Morphine, huh."

"Keep it down."

"Master!"

The two blondes looked over their shoulders with mild frustration. Trip sighed in annoyance.

"…Some pests got in," Virus rolled his eyes before looking back at me. "I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll see each other, Molly-san," he smiled cruelly before he and Trip casually walked away.

As soon as I was sure they really were leaving my attention turned to the four men who had entered the room and were now staring down the members of Morphine. One of them, wearing a red yukata and caring a giant sword, looked incredibly pissed. Two of them, the tallest one with dreadlocks and a guy wearing a lot of green with a lot of piercings, looked bored but ready to fight.

And the fourth guy…was he wearing a gas mask?

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**AN: I hope you enjoyed that! Please review!**


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